


Pokémon: Black Diamond

by route216



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Diamond & Pearl & Platinum | Pokemon Diamond Pearl Platinum Versions
Genre: Creepypasta, Drama, Gen, Horror, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Real Life, Video Game Mechanics, battle scenes are described in fair detail/akin to the games so. feel free to skim through those, everything in blockquotes are the narrators Inner Thoughts, everything in the pokeverse takes place in a game, frequent death mentions, graphic descriptions of corpse-esque bodies at the beginning, haunted cartridge tropes, non-canon verses, power of friendship tropes, some bantering in some chapters, starts out as a Semi-Generic SpookyFettucine Setting then turns into... something, technically not but. that was the audience this was originally aimed at, the protags and rivals show up a bit later in the story, this was super self-indulgent and im not afraid to admit that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2021-01-27 06:04:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 39,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21387322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/route216/pseuds/route216
Summary: A personal errand on a warm spring morning turns into an unexpected, reality-defying battle against the embodiment of darkness itself, and against the darkness within the human soul. (COMPLETE)
Kudos: 3





	1. A spring morning

**Author's Note:**

> some backstory: this was actually the very first Creepy Pokemon Thing that I ever wrote and posted in public in 2009, at the age of 13 (I started writing it in my freshman math class, in fact), and it was originally intended to be Way shorter and have a Cliche FreakyLasagne Ending but quickly turned into a Much bigger thing, with a much bigger story. i had a whole lot of fun writing this back then, and at the time it was my pride and joy, and what little feedback i Did get on it made me very happy, and even now even though it's Very VERY Far From Expert Writing and Ive improved my writing Immensely in the last decade, i'm glad i still have it saved. 
> 
> that being said, i Have done quality control and revised it A Lot before posting it on here, but its not beta'd, the formatting is still a bit of a clusterfuck and all mistakes and oversights/plot holes are still mine (bc tbh i'd have to rewrite the entire thing from scratch to Completely Fix every single thing and. it's a 107 page MS Word Doc i ain't doin that)
> 
> so, yeah. That's all ❤️

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Out to do some quick shopping.

It all began on the lane near 84th Street, and it began a fine day, the temperature steadying at a calm seventy-seven degrees; my favorite type of weather.

Standing in front of the local GameStop, I’d been pondering why it was in the state that it was in. The building, what little of it I could see beneath the thick wall of ivy that infested it, was a sickly brown, and the interior was abnormally dark, very much unlike other GameStop stores I’d seen up until then. Though curious, I wasn’t unnerved, as I understood that when I went in, I would be greeted by both the friendly clerks and the hundreds of games lined up against the walls, the ebony framed flat-screen television hosting G4 events — all more than enough to make up for the less-than-attractive exterior. Clutching the thirty dollars that I somehow found in my yard - probably blown there by the wind- I finally entered the shop.

The moment I stepped in, I froze in my tracks as the daylight annihilated the darkness of the interior.

What I saw in that shop that day was nothing short of pure horror.

All of the empty shelves were coated with reddish-brown rust and gargantuan webs that housed spiders; black widows, I think they were. The only functioning manmade light source in the building, a dying and flickering florescent light, revealed that the floor was a mess of broken glass and shards of plastic. Instantly repulsed beyond belief, I promptly attempted to retreat, but that was when I witnessed something that made me flinch and fall backward in surprise, one of my hands just narrowly spared being impaled by an enormous glass shard lying on the floor. The glass door, the same one that I had entered from only seconds ago, was shattered, leaving a giant hole with razor-sharp points of glass still stick in the frame, as if I’d walked into the mouth of a behemoth with transparent fangs.

> _I… _
> 
> _I just went through that door._

But, that was the very least of my concerns at the moment — right before my eyes, behind the hole in the glass door, about a dozen people, all facing the same direction, stood before the shop. Their empty, unsettling stares were fixed on me; not merely in my direction, but directly on ME. I frantically stumbled onto my feet, lightheaded from shock, a multitude of eyes following my every move.

I shuddered as I turned my back on the crowd outside, using every ounce of my willpower to keep from vomiting; if not from anxiety, then from the horrendous odor wafting in the air that had somehow overtaken all five of my senses. Just when I thought that the scene I was in couldn’t get any worse, I caught sight of whom I assumed to be a clerk on the left-hand side of the room. The counter he was standing behind was infested with rats, only about two of which were even alive, and even they appeared as if they were on the brink of death; the rest were fly-eaten, almost unidentifiable. The clerk’s brown hair appeared matted and tangled, his brown eyes wide and blood-shot, stained teeth just barely visible inside a mouth hung ajar. His torn blue and red uniform was adorned with a crumbling name tag, his name blacked-out by what appeared to be black permanent marker.

Hardly breathing, I stood as still as an effigy as I waited for him to talk, to make noise, make any movements at all. But even after what must have been almost a full minute, not even his eyes had moved an inch, not even to blink. Worse still, I found that that the crowd outside was still staring at me when I looked behind me once more on pure impulse, their gapes having grown visibly more spiteful, as if they were angry that I‘d spotted the clerk; that I’d turned my back on them. Plus, while I wasn't completely sure at the moment, I could have sworn that they’d all walked closer to the shop even though I hadn't heard any footsteps, the wrinkles from their disdain noticeably clearer than they’d been minutes ago.

I looked at the clerk again, his piercing stare still fixated on the wall in front of him. It was at that moment that I realized the second clerk in the shop — that one appearing to be a woman, sprawled out on the floor face down, something I was quietly relieved about, as I couldn’t deal with being in the room with two stomach-turning stares, on top of the dozens that were outside. She had the same brown, unkempt hair and the same uniform, but for some reason, she was completely barefoot, exposing a pair of pale feet that had evidently been lacerated by what I assumed was the surrounding glass. It was at that point that I concluded that both clerks were dead, and that their rotten cadavers, along with those of the rats, were the source of the smell.

As if my feet had a mind and consciousness of their own, I slowly began to walk further into the shop, and only by the sounds of my own footsteps stirring the glass did I realize just how deathly quiet it was — not even the sound of the morning ambiance was there to comfort me. I stepped over the destroyed flat-screen TV, screen smashed to pieces and shiny frame bent beyond repair. About five steps in, I stopped, a cold sweat forming on my face as I watched the red-tinted eyes of the male clerk, who was very much alive, make contact with mine, the rest of his face remaining stiff.

> _Great._

Now I was the focal point of over a dozen people’s undivided attention, and it would have been one more if the female clerk was alive. Regaining my composure and staying completely silent, I continued to go forward, eyes locking with the clerk’s as they followed my every move. When I was a certain distance away from him, however, his hollow gaze returned to where they originally were; staring impassively ahead. The shop being as small as it was, I had come to a dead-end fairly quickly, and found nothing of interest — I headed back, my stomach tensing up as the clerk’s stare locked onto me again. It was then that my own eyes met something that I hadn’t recognized before — wedged in between the metal shelves on the wall across from the clerk was an object. I then realized that the clerk hadn’t just been staring at nothing. Having been so preoccupied with everything else, I hadn’t even come close to noticing it.

It was surprisingly difficult to jostle the object — a small black box and the only intact thing in the shop — out of the tight and narrow shelf, especially with my hands quivering as they were, but I examined the box closely once I succeeded. The box sported what I immediately recognized to be the _Pokémon_ franchise’s blue-and-yellow logo, and had the exact weight, shape, texture, and size of a typical Nintendo DS cartridge case, although there wasn’t any sort of side label indicating that it contained a Nintendo DS game. Under the logo were red letters, written in an unusual, rather troubling print that looked as if it had been aggressively scrawled in with a dying red pen that the frustrated writer was impatiently trying to scratch the remaining ink out of.

“Black Diamond”, the letters read out.

I was both puzzled and intrigued — _Pokémon Diamond_, an official main _Pokémon_ title, had already been released a few years ago, and I already owned it, along with its companion games _Pokémon Pearl_ and _Pokémon Platinum_ (the trio of games dubbed DPPt for short, or Generation IV). I was a particularly big fan of _Pokémon_, and I hadn’t heard or seen anything regarding the game I was holding — no commercials, nothing on any official _Pokémon_ websites, no news or trailers posted on Serebii or any other _Pokémon_-centric fansites, no ads put up in any shop window, none of the usual social media fan hype that comes with the announcement of a new _Pokémon_ game… Absolutely nothing that alerted me of its existence until now. 

> _So, what’s this? _
> 
> _Some sort of Pokémon Quartz-esque bootleg that somehow made it to an offline, mainstream, and legal market?_

I studied the box closer. It had no mascot Pokémon on the front, like a_ Pokémon_ game’s box art typically does, but a single eye on a pitch-black background. After about a second, I quickly realized them to be the eye of Dialga, a Legendary Pokémon that was the mascot of the normal Diamond game and was adorned on the game’s boxart. The eye had been taken directly from the normal Ken Sugimori _Diamond_ Dialga artwork; in other words, it looked as if someone blacked out the rest of the boxart, but for God knows what reason left the eye, tiny and blood-red, visible among the black background.

> _That’s odd…_

“You.”

The sudden sound of the clerk’s voice made my entire body shudder, and I instantly locked eyes with him, watching his chapped lips tremble, his eyes begin to flow with tears, and his hands shake like a lone leaf in a fast-approaching storm.

“M… Me?” I asked, knowing full well that there was no one else he could have been talking to, and trying to talk as calmly as I possibly could to prevent accidentally provoking some sort of violent reaction from him.

The clerk, his voice cracking, replied hoarsely, “You… Take it away.”

“Take…?”

He said again, his voice an octave higher, “Take it away.”

I then remembered the game I held in my hands. “…This?” I said, a shaking hand pointing at it. He nodded, his head still shaking.

I said, still struggling to keep my composure, “O….OK, how much…”

The clerk screamed, “NO MONEY!”

His yell, blaring across the oppressive silence like a thousand smoke alarms, made me flinch and drop the game on the debris-covered floor, the awful clattering sound it made on impact sending a violent chill across every nerve in my body. I then noticed that the people outside were still staring at me, their stares more threatening and hateful than ever before, and they’d all moved even closer to the shop, now only a hop and a skip away from being in the store with me, from killing me.

I was the most terrified that I’d ever been, and probably ever will be; of the people outside, of the clerk, of the woman lying dead at my feet, of everything. I felt trapped, almost to a suffocating degree.

> _I can’t stay, but I can’t leave._

I forced myself to recover as much as I was able. Urging my pulse to slow down, I choked out, “I…” 

That was all I was able to say before the clerk shouted again, voice imposing and aggressive, “TAKE IT AWAY FROM HERE!!”

I remained still, holding my breath, unsure of what to do.

> _I can’t go out and face those people…_

“NOW!!!” he shouted again.

Less than a second after he spoke, a cold, clammy, almost painful sensation made its way up one of my legs. My heart in my throat, my head swung downward, and I witnessed to my absolute horror that the woman on the floor, who was also very much alive, had a hand wrapped tightly around my ankle. I still couldn’t see her face, but I could hear her muffled plea all too clearly.

“Please…” she uttered, her voice melancholy, almost aggrieved, "Take it with you."

The last sound that pierced the silence that day was my own horrified yelp leaping off of the walls. I hysterically yanked away from the woman’s grip, her arm falling limp onto the piles of glass shards with the most gut-wrenching thud I’d ever heard. As I struggled to snatch the box up off the floor, all-too-nearly tripping over the woman in the process, I began to hear a cacophony of load squeaking coming from the direction of the male clerk, and as much as it turned my stomach, I could only assume that the rats that littered his counter were as alive as the two clerks, as alive as I was. I couldn't confirm this, however, and I'll never be able to — the second I picked up the box, I made a beeline out of the shop, my breath held, eyes squeezing shut and mind bracing itself for the worst.


	2. Going back in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The clerks make one final request.

When I opened my eyes, however, and less than a foot away from the shop’s entrance, I saw not a single one of the spectators in sight.

There were people strolling about, going about their morning routine, but none of them looked familiar, none of them had glares, and none of them even acknowledged my existence. I haphazardly slammed myself down on a nearby bench before I could pass out, breathing heavily and my head pounding with adrenaline.

> _What… the hell just happened…?_

After I regained my senses, my heart, once again, nearly stopped as I cautiously took one final look at the shop I’d just escaped.

Everything was back to normal (the vine-covered exterior was the same, but I could cope with that).

The inside of the store, now as bright as the new daylight outside, now contained a plethora of games perched proudly on all the shelves, the floors perfectly clean, not a rat nor a web in sight. The moment I deliriously made my way back inside, a flat-screen TV from the corner of the room, now whole and fixed, ecstatically shouted an announcement for _New Super Mario Bros. Wii_.

The male clerk, his name apparently “Marcus”, turned his brown, bright eyes my way, and so too did the woman, apparently named “Angela”, her eyes a similar shade of brown.

“Good morning!” Marcus said, readily brushing off his clean, intact uniform. “Can we help you?”

I maintained as neutral of a demeanor as I could muster to prevent looking like some kind of weirdo, but my mind, clouded in confusion and disbelief, made this a difficult task.

> _Do they not remember what just happened to them? _
> 
> _Or was I… hallucinating? _

Instead of demanding any answers, I said, as politely and calmly as I could muster, “Oh, don’t mind me! I was around here the other day, I’m just looking for something, and I’m making sure I didn’t drop it in here.”

Angela warmly exclaimed, “Alright! Have a good day, and I hope you find what you’re looking for!”

“Thank you, you have a good day too!” I said. With my eyes open this time, I calmly started to stroll out of the shop.

“...Good luck,” I heard Marcus’s voice say, his voice almost too soft to hear. I turned my attention back to the clerks, both of them wearing solemn expressions.

“Hm?” I went.

“Good luck,” said Marcus, again.

“Be strong,” said Angela.

I wanted to assume that they were saying these things in regards to me finding what I “dropped”, but something in their voices, their somber gazes, suggested something much more urgent; it was like they desperately wanted to tell me something, but couldn’t.

Not knowing how else to respond, I simply nodded my head before silently exiting the shop for the last time.

This time, I didn’t look back.

As soon as I was back outside, I grabbed the box from the bench, a bit surprised, and mildly dismayed, that no one had stolen it while it was left unattended. I took another look at it as I strolled slowly towards the bus stop, my stomach tensing up as my eyes met the red dot on the box.

> _Something about this creeps me out so much… _

I barely even noticed the bus when it eventually pulled up. As I paid my fare and searched for a seat, my mind was swarmed with the events that transpired less than ten minutes ago, wondering why I had to witness the things that I’d witnessed.

But, I would soon come to understand.

I would come to understand completely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> useless but kinda fun fact: the clerks are actually based/named after two GS clerks back in the day who I knew on a first-name basis 🌹


	3. Anxiety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The walk home, and the unboxing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: see notes at the bottom for translations.

It was a short, slow, and apprehensive walk home after the bus hissed to the stop nearest my small house, settled still in an abnormally silent neighborhood. Energetic children bouncing a basketball and our neighbor’s dogs barking their excited loud barks at everything that moves are par for the course in my district, but that day, I heard no kids, no dogs, not even the distant call of a bird — only the sound of my own hollow, rhythmic footsteps. As odd as this might sound, the neighborhood houses seemed a bit off as well; they were usually warm and inviting, but that day, they had this oppressive aura to them that I can’t even begin to explain, and I felt as though they were looming over me, threatening me. I was only as I wandered closer to my house that I realized that even the ride home felt… wrong — it almost felt as if the bus’s door was sucking me in, the bus driver stiff and almost entirely unmoving as she silently drove forward and my fellow passengers staring blankly ahead of them, not a single word coming from any of their mouths, a noticeable contrast to the diverse chatter that was the norm for public transportation.

> _So many bizarre things going on today. _
> 
> _Am I… losing my mind? Or dreaming?_

I picked up on the lack of my own home’s usual coziness the very moment that I walked through my front door. I came to the immediate conclusion that it was all just my imagination, merely the dread of the previous events following me home, so I simply walked straight to my bedroom, promptly locking the door behind me the second I closed myself in. I didn’t actually understand why I did that, and I barely even realized I did it; no one was even home at the time, but it made me feel more… secure, strangely enough.

I stared at the box once more, my nerves once again tightening as I looked into that eye again. Usually, when I open a new DS game, especially if said game is a _Pokémon_ game, I impatiently rip and tear at the irritating plastic coating, excited and eager to start playing it, but that day, as I took note of the box’s complete lack of the aforementioned plastic, those feelings weren’t there.

Upon finally (albeit anxiously and clumsily) opening the case, I found, to my partial relief, that it was complete with everything a DS game usually comes with; Nintendo safety manual, instruction booklet, the Club Nintendo promo thingy, and of course, the cartridge itself. Nothing hazardous or toxic. That relief died quickly, however, as I noticed something amiss — there was no sticker on the cartridge. As anyone who’s ever played a console or handheld video game knows, a cartridge usually has its own official sticker label on it, depicting the title of the game, an emblem confirming its legitimacy, and so on, but that cartridge didn’t have that; only tiny blots of what looked like dried black ink in the empty space. I assumed, quite foolishly, that it either must’ve been an error in manufacturing, or the cartridge itself was pre-owned (in other words, previously used by someone else), but a very tiny part of me suspected that it had been done deliberately, though that tiny part of me had no idea why anyone would do that.

I open the game’s instruction booklet first, the front and back covers of it also nothing but black, praying that I’d see the “head out for a journey with your Pokémon friends and become the region champion!” text on the first page, a blurb that had been traditional for the core games’ manuals ever since the _Pokémon Red_ manual.

To very little surprise, it wasn’t there. In fact, none of the pages were readable — there was only black scrawl covering the text, in a similar manner to how the clerk’s nametag was blacked out in the GameStop; it was as if someone had gone nuts with a Sharpie. I flipped through the booklet, growing increasingly uncomfortable with each blemished page.

> _What’s this all about? _

In less than a minute, I hit the last page, but this one was different, the presence of something new after all of the black almost making me recoil. It still had the black scrawl, but on top of it, there were large red letters, in the same scribble-like font as the words on the box.

“Non puoi tornare indietro,” it read out.

“What?” I'd said out loud.

> _…Italian? _
> 
> _This is an Italian copy? _

Upon closing the booklet, I instantly got up from my bed and placed it cautiously on a small table in the corner of my room, in the same fashion that a person would lay down a sensitive grenade that would implode with the slightest bit of excessive force. I tried to pretend I hadn’t seen it, but of course, the uneasiness stuck. My heartbeat quickened as I stared at the now-visible Nintendo safety booklet, the word “open” written in bold, black, all-capital letters on top of the normal text; a demand I obeyed. Though I should have known better, my optimistic side expected the tiny black text explaining what and what not to do with a DS, but that text was marked out with black scribbling as well, something written right in the center of it, in the same red scrawl:

“Non puoi uscire.”

> _More Italian?_
> 
> _ But, why? _
> 
> _The title’s clearly in English. _

I swiftly went back over to the table in the corner and put the safety booklet next to the instruction booklet, with that same unwarranted caution. As I sped away, as if both books were going to jump out and maul me if I remained a second too long, I remembered that the Club Nintendo promo booklet was left. I was afraid to look at it, but, knowing that the curiosity would eat away at me if I didn’t, I did so anyway. Unlike the previous finds, I didn’t expect this one to be ordinary — I had accepted that the game bundle was far from normal. The PIN number, as well as everything else, was blacked-out, and there was a red phone number in it: 333-469-9022, it was.

I sat that one on a dresser near my bed; I might have been just a bit little calmer, but I definitely wasn’t going to call the number, as I knew that I would probably live (or not) to regret it.

With nothing else left to inspect, I carefully removed the cartridge from the box. I took a closer look at the game card I held in my hand — tiny, yet evident scratch markings covered it, the bottom of its back area appearing tarnished, almost rusted; I wondered if the thing would even work.

With that, I held my breath, finally grabbed my Nintendo DS, reluctantly put the cartridge in, and pressed the “On” switch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Non puoi tornare indietro": "You can't go back."  
"Non puoi uscire.": "You can't go out/leave."
> 
> also idk if that phone number is an actual number but u prolly shouldnt try calling it lol


	4. Introduction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The game begins, and so does the journey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> note: see bottom notes for translations.

The very first oddity came right when I turned the system on: instead of showing the “warning: health and safety” alert on the top screen as it always does even if I had set it on Auto mode (which I hadn’t), it went straight to the game I’d put in, indicated by the monochrome _Pokémon_ logo, the exact same one present in the normal DPPt intro sequence, that showed up on the top screen for about two seconds before the screen went black. I figured (and in a way, hoped) that whoever created this game, said people or persons quite obviously not affiliated with GameFreak, Nintendo, or The _Pokémon_ Company, had a rather unhealthy obsession with the color black, or was probably some rebellious teenager trying to make a _Pokémon _game of all things gritty and edgy. For what must have been almost a whole minute, nothing showed on either screen as very low buzzing hummed from the DS speakers, a sound like the labored breathing of an old, worn-down furnace. It grew grating very quickly, and for a second, I thought the game had crashed. Before I could even put a finger on the power switch, however, an image finally started to fade in, the noise coming to an abrupt halt.

As it grew clearer, it was revealed to be an image of Professor Rowan, the main professor from the normal DPPt games, the screen appearing to be the same as it usually is at the very beginning of DPPt. For about half a second, I was relieved to see a familiar face, but then I took note of his eyes, his facial expression; it was unlike how I’d ever seen it. He just stood there, an almost bitter gape in his eyes and a far-too-clear grimace behind his stark white mustache. He didn’t introduce himself or the world of Pokémon as he should have, nor did he ask for my name or my gender; instead, the text box under him merely read “…”.

The screen then cut away into darkness, and the low buzzing began once more. Not too long after, the screen still black, a text box appeared.

“Down,” it read.

I reluctantly pressed and held the down button on the D-pad, as I assumed it wanted me to do. I couldn’t see anything that was happening onscreen, as the screen was completely blacked out. Soon, however, I heard the “going through a door” sound effect from the regular games, and the screen grew slightly clearer as it transitioned into the next scene, but I could still barely see anything. What I could see, however, appeared to be an unidentifiable smudge in the middle of the screen. Just then, another text box popped up on the bottom; “Left,” that one read. So, I pressed and held down the left button, watching as the smudge moved in the respective direction. In seconds, I reached a red block at the end of the room; or at least, I presumed it was a room — I didn’t know, and at that moment, I was too perplexed and anxious to truly care about exact details. The smudge touched the red block, and a white spot appeared next to it. I guessed that it must have been the “entrance arrow” sprite from the other _Pokémon_ games.

The player went in, making the “going through a door” sound effect again, but this time, it sounded glitched-up and distorted, like a bunch of corrupted sound bytes going off together. The image became even clearer on the next screen; clear enough for me to realize that “smudge” had actually been the sprite of a, though still unidentifiable, character.

> _Who is it? _
> 
> _Is it Lucas, the male protagonist of DPPt? _
> 
> _Or Dawn, the female protagonist? _
> 
> _Someone who was normally an NPC in those games? _
> 
> _Or maybe… Someone completely different? _

The room was clearer as well. It was a small brown room with a statue in the far left corner, the kind usually found at the entrance of a Pokémon gym, with the “champ in the making” NPC standing next to it to either encourage or comfort the player before a gym leader battle or congratulate them after a victory. On pure impulse, I walked up to the statue to examine it, and a text box appeared.

“…Appe… a… if… …t …is …ar…ing…” it read out.

Predictably, I had no idea what that meant. I pressed the “A” button again, to see if I could decipher it by examining it further, but, to my surprise, and vague discomfort, it said something else entirely.

“…ere is one …ope le...t…”

I could sort of decipher this one — I assumed that it was trying to say “there is one hope left,” but I wasn’t certain.

> _But, if that’s really what it says…_
> 
> _What does it mean?_
> 
> _One hope left…_

I examined it one more time, and the message had changed once more.

“Dovete fuoriuscire.”

I flinched; I thought for sure that I was through with this language after reading the instruction and Nintendo safety booklets. I rapidly pressed the “A” button to close the text box, but it just said the same thing over and over again. I kept pressing and pressing, but it just wouldn’t stop. I even tried the “B” button, the “X” and “Y” buttons, the “Start” and “Select” buttons, the D-pad, and even the “L” and “R” shoulder buttons in an act of desperation, but to no avail.

“Dovete fuoriuscire.”

“Dovete fuoriuscire.”

“Dovete fuoriuscire.”

“Dovete fuoriuscire.”

“Dovete fuoriuscire.”

“Dovete fuoriuscire.”

It just kept going. It would have been just a little more tolerable and less unnerving if I could understand it and thus could decipher whether or not it said something malicious. Just when I was beginning to think it would never end, it came to a stop, much to my relief. “Bag” was what it was punctuated with. I was confused for less than a second, but straight away, I opened the menu and selected the “Bag” option. I noticed that the menu lacked a “Save” feature, something that I found odd, but I paid it no attention, as that was the least of my concerns at that moment.

The bag screen opened, but the bag, rather than being the usual yellow, had been altered into a sickly-green color, with a few of what appeared to be small rip markings edited onto the handle. Judging by the design of the bag, the character I was playing as was more than likely Dawn; both Lucas and Dawn have their own unique respective bags in DPPt, and the bag in question was Dawn’s. The bag had only one item in it — an Escape Rope, an item typically used to instantly exit caves in _Pokémon_ games. I selected it, and chose the “use” option, thinking that it would get me out of whatever hellhole this was. Per usual, the character spun around in place, but rather than going upward as they normally did, they went down. The screen faded into black again, and a text box appeared.

“You’ve begun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Dovete fuoriuscire": "You have to escape."
> 
> and yes, i am aware that 2009 me lacked self-awareness (re: the "trying to make Pokemon edgy" bit (that i decided to leave in bc Im Owning Up To It), no need to tell me lol


	5. Deja vu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some familiar faces within the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> note: see notes at the end for translations.

> _…So, was that supposed to be the intro or something?_
> 
> _I don’t know what I expected from this cartridge, but I can’t say it was anything like this. _

When the screen eventually transitioned, the image was completely clear, now being of the same quality as the normal DPPt games. The character I was playing as was, just as I had predicted, Dawn, and she was in a large mansion — a broken down and old-looking one at that. There were bookshelves, some empty, some not, and on the seemingly wooden floor, there were papers of many colors scattered around haphazardly. There were several trash cans near the walls, the same regular trash cans that you could check for items in from the normal games. I noticed that there was background music this time, ominous and imposing. Right away, I recognized it to be the Old Chateau music from the DPPt soundtrack, completely unedited. I had already been terrified of the music during my initial playthrough of DPPt, but the current situation made the dread that much worse — it felt as if the soundtrack was not to the game, but to my real-world house.

Looking at the room and taking in the situation, I hadn't pressed anything yet. The game clearly wanted me to keep moving, however; after about ten seconds of staring at the screen and listening to the music, a text box appeared.

“Don’t stop.”

Admittedly, the sudden appearance of the message made me cringe, but I did as it said. I inspected the room, but I had no idea where to go. I checked out one of the trash cans near the wall, and surprisingly, it had something in it, but the “you got an item” jingle didn’t play, and the Old Chateau music kept going. Another text box appeared following the discovery.

“??? has obtained the Key!”

The player’s “name” (or, my “name”, so to speak) being “???”, though somewhat troubling, did make sense, as I had no opportunity to input a name at the beginning of the game. Opening the bag to inspect closer, I noticed that the key wasn’t from any other Pokémon game. Its design was quite standard; it was a small, pure white key that looked as though it could fit perfectly in one’s hand. The description of the item was simply as follows:

“Use it.”

> _Wow, that’s REALLY helpful, like I would have never thought to use it. _
> 
> _But… How and where am I supposed use it? _

Upon closing the bag and then the menu, I saw something on the screen that made me freeze in alarm for a second — on the right-hand side of the room, there was the sprite of another person, sporting yellow attire and a red hair bow. Without saying a word, she turned her back on the player, and… floated, not walked, away. I quickly recognized her — believe it or not, she was an NPC from the normal DPPt. Specifically, she’s girl from the Old Chateau that resides on the second floor — occasionally, if you enter the fourth room on that floor, she’ll be seen in the neighboring room, and exits said room in the same “floating” manner, heavily implying her to be a ghost.

> _But, why is she here…?_

I followed her, believing that I would get some answers if I did. I eventually came to a small set of stairs in the top right corner, no sound playing when I went down . I noted the amount of sound effects either missing or corrupted in Black Diamond; a buggy cartridge, I told myself.

> _I hope. _

When I got to the next area, a rectangular, stylized box appeared in the top left corner of the screen. This was the box in every Pokémon game since _Pokémon Crystal_ that told you the name of the city, cave, or significant building you were currently in, and the box in this case dubbed the current area “Obscurity”.

> _What an odd name… _

As they usually do, the box disappeared offscreen. I walked what must have been a total of about five steps to the right before I saw her again. I waited for her to float away again, but she stood still, directly in my character's line of sight. I took one step toward her — nothing. I took another step — still nothing. I kept walking until I was face to face with her, pressing the “A” button upon reaching her.

“It’s too dark…” she said.

With that, she floated away again, this time heading downward.

“Can you turn the light on, please?”

In my attempts to follow behind her, I discovered that the only way out was blocked by what looked like a gate. Whatever and wherever this “light” was, I figured that I had to find it to be able to leave. But I found nothing; just floor tiles. Eventually, however, after walking to the left-most part of the screen, I found another statue, which I examined. At first, it didn’t really say anything, showcasing a series of ellipses.

“……………

………………”

Then, after that, it said: “Party.”

> _Party?_
> 
> _…It means my Pokémon team._

I opened the menu, and sure enough, it had a “Pokémon” option, despite the fact that I hadn’t received a starter Pokémon, nor had I caught any Pokémon.

I froze in astonishment when I opened the party screen, blood draining from my face.

It was… my old party, from my normal _Diamond_ game, with all of the same levels and nicknames, which I will now describe in order to prove that it was my _Diamond_ Pokémon team.

Firstly was my Empoleon, named Empoleo (no, I was not a creative nor patient young teenager), at a level 98, as I had never gotten it to level 100 yet, mainly because I’d moved onto the other Generation IV games after finishing everything in _Diamond_.

Second was my Staravia, named Sienna, level 78.

Third was my Bibarel, named Barbara, level 77.

Fourth, my Chatot — obtained via the programmed-in in-game trade in Eterna City — named Charap by its original trainer, level 60.

Fifth, my Luxray, named X-ray, at level 68.

Last but not least, my Dialga, named, Dialgi (again, I was not a creative kid), at level 55.

Dialgi was considerably lower in level than the others, as I never really used it in battle, because I wasn’t, and still am not, a casual, shameless “uber” user. I still considered it to be one of my most valuable Pokémon, however — I’d gone through hell getting it on my initial, inexperienced _Diamond_ playthrough, so I couldn’t bring myself to just dump it in a PC box, and plus, Dialga had been one of my favorite legendary Pokémon at the time.

All of my Pokémon’s nicknames were in all capital letters in my _Diamond_ game, as I'd been so accustomed to giving Pokémon the default all-caps names in the previous three Generations that I did the same in DPPt (thus, all recollections of in-game dialogue that contains my Pokémon’s nicknames will have said names in all-capital letters). I closed the party menu, mind spinning and unsure of what to do next. Just then, a text box appeared.

“DIALGI used Roar of Time!”

Before I had a chance to react, my Dialga’s horse-like cry burst through the speakers, and the entire screen turned white. When the light dimmed, I saw that the gate blocking the stairs vanished, and the “going through a door” sound echoing through the speakers.

The path now open, I went up the stairs. The room I ended up in next was noticeably smaller and emptier than the previous rooms, the only thing of note being a single door at the top of the screen with the NPC standing in front of it. The “area box" on the top right of the screen no longer said “Obscurity”; instead, it said “Escape”. I walked up to her, and she, even though I hadn’t yet pressed the “A” button, talked to me.

“Use that Key if you’re ready to go… It’s my bedtime now. But, the monster will get me, if I sleep in the dark.”

She then vanished, and in turn unblocked the door. When I walked up to it, the screen said:

“Use the Key?

>Yes

No”

Of course, I chose “Yes”.

“??? has escaped!” the screen said when I went through the door. The screen went black, and a text box appeared.

“Siete fuoriuscito.”

More Italian. Only one thing mattered to me at that moment, though; wherever I was, I was supposedly out.

This was only the beginning, however, and in the back of my mind, I already knew that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Siete fuoriuscito": "You have escaped."
> 
> and fyi: that was my actual pokemon diamond team at the time i first started writing this, with the same nicknames and levels, and yes, i really did suck that much at names


	6. Disappearance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something's missing.

The screen was all black again, until an image slowly faded in, looking more and more familiar as it grew clearer. The screen soon became fully apparent, and I could see that I was now in the actual Old Chateau from the real DPPt games — the entry lobby, to be exact. For the very first time in my life, I felt relieved at the sight of it, believing that the assumed hacker hadn’t worked past the previous scenes and that I would have the chance to escape the horror and explore much lighter areas. I decided to check my Pokémon team again, finding that it was the same as it had been previously, still my DPPt team; still unnerving, but not as much as it had been at first.

One thing was amiss, however… My Dialga was gone, an empty slot left in my party.

Rather than go into a panic or presume anything, I decided to stay calm, keep playing, and look for answers on my own.

My attention then became fixed to the statue to the left of the room on the first floor. I remembered this specific statue from DPPt, and from the brown room I was in earlier. I walked up to it and interacted, making a text box appear.

“…It appears as if it is glaring…”

_Yeah, I remember this from the real one… _

Just then, something hit me — some of the letters were familiar. I then remembered, from the brown room earlier:

_“…Appe… a… if… …t …is …ar…ing…” _

_“…Appears as if it is glaring…” _

Just then, out of nowhere, the screen flashed, and a Pokémon battle started.

Oddly enough, there was no “wild Pokémon battle” music; the Old Chateau music droned on. The Pokémon that appeared was a…

> _Charizard?_

The Charizard’s general sprite model was taken straight from _Diamond_ and _Pearl_, but there were a few mild edits; it was recolored using a monochrome palette, clearly using the color palette from the overworld statue. Its cry was distorted, it had no flame on its tail, and it was edited to be without pupils or irises, making its stare... ominous. The text at the bottom said: “Wild _______ appeared!”

> _“Wild _______”? _
> 
> _OK… _

The battle functioned like any other normal Pokémon battle — it started out with Dawn, or in this case “???”, sending out Empoleo, and I had the standard battle options; “Fight”, “Bag”, and “Pokémon”, but the “Run” option was missing, thus forcing me to battle the statue.

Despite being a statue, the creature was apparently faster than my Empoleon, so it got the attack first.

“The wild ______ used Harden!”

The typical Harden animation ensued, the Charizard flashing with a metallic hue, its defense rising.

It was my turn to give the next attack. I selected “Attack”, and I expected to see the attacks I remembered my Empoleon having: Hydro Pump, Hydro Cannon, Surf, and Cut.

But, the only “attack” present was “!!!”.

> _Never seen anything like this… _

With no other choice available, I went with it. Empoleo’s backsprite trembled a little for a while, and I once again thought the game had crashed up. Suddenly, however, a bright, yellow light formed around Empoleo, the entire screen going white and a text box saying: “EMPOLEO used !!!” I then heard the “super effective” sound effect, and in turn, the screen said: “It’s super effective!” Then, I heard an unusual, glitched-up noise come from the DS speakers.

“The wild ______ has crumbled!”

The fact that the game said “crumbled” instead of “fainted”, though that had never been a thing in the other games, didn’t come as much of a surprise; it was a statue, after all.

The battle scene ended, and the screen faded back into the Old Chateau’s main hall.

As expected, the statue was gone, but however, so was the player. The room was left empty.

Then, another text box popped up.

“??? has finally headed out…”

After the text box disappeared, a male NPC appeared from the bottom of the screen, floating towards where the player had been standing. I recognized him as well — it was a man from the real DPPt games; a man who, like the girl, occasionally appears by chance in the Chateau and floats offscreen once spotted, the difference being that he appears in the dining hall. He merely stood in place as the screen slowly faded to black again, and one last text box appeared right before the scene transitioned.

“Snowpoint.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, if youre still reading this 1. Bless Your Soul 2. The actual plot Officially starts next chapter and The Game Intro Bit Is Finally Done Jfc I Didn't Realize It Was As Long As It Was


	7. Ghost town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the bitter cold.

> _“Snowpoint”?_
> 
> _Snowpoint… City? _
> 
> _The place with the temple and ice-type gym? _

Another scene came onscreen again not too long after, and I found that I was out of the Old Chateau, and now in a place filled with whitespace, a few house sprites in vision. I realized that I was in Snowpoint City; a city located in the northernmost part of Sinnoh that’s, as the name suggests, constantly covered in snow, just as the previous scene said and just as I’d guessed. The producer of the bootleg screwed up again (at least, I tried telling myself that this was the case), however, and only the one-instrument introduction of the original Snowpoint City soundtrack played, again and again, the other instruments never coming in. Not only was it grating, but it grew exceedingly unnerving with each loop — it made me feel as though something was approaching, watching, waiting.

I began investigating the area to see if I could find anything useful, or at the very least, reassuring. Almost immediately, I found out that I couldn’t enter any of the homes, all attempts to walk through the doors being met with the usual Pokémon “bump” sound effect. Whenever I pressed the “A” button while in front of a door, I received the same worrying message every time: “The door is frozen shut.”

Upon further examination, I noticed that the house sprites were tinted a light, clearish-blue, and I realized that ice encased not only the doors, but the houses too.

> _But… why?_

Sick to my stomach with an unexplainable dread, all I could do was think about what sort of issues the person who hacked this damned game must have had — they probably took some sick pleasure in what they’d turned a _Pokémon_ game into. Just then, an NPC in an orange coat walked onscreen and downward towards me. I knew her — she was the woman who guarded the Snowpoint Temple (an area where a player can find Regigigas, a legendary Pokémon that's only obtainable when the entirety of the Legendary Titan trio is in the player’s party) from the “unworthy” (or rather, players who hadn’t yet beaten the Champion and in turn the main storyline) in the real DPPt games. She faced me (quick note: I shall be referring to “???” with “me” and “I” and the like from now on, to make the story more personal and easier to recall), and spoke.

“Are…Are you in search?”

I was given “Yes” and “No” options.

“In search of…” had been my initial thought, but then I remembered, I WAS in search of something.

> _My Dialga._

Thus, I chose “Yes”. She only responded with, “Go north.” Then, instead of walking away, she abruptly vanished with not even so much as a sound effect. Another error in the hack… At least, that’s what I desperately tried to tell myself in an attempt to keep my cool — part of me already knew that everything happening was meant to be happening. I headed to the north, just as I was told, heading to where the Snowpoint Temple would usually be. The temple was completely absent when I reached its spot, however, and in its place stood a gray, snow-covered platform with a stone block in the middle. When I walked over to the block and examined it, it said the following:

“These people, these humans…

They've gone.

Where have they all gone?

To the moon's birthplace.

Only darkness populates this town, as it does this world…

Forever…………………”

It chilled me right down to my soul.

> _So… does this all mean that the citizens have been chased out of their homes in the cold? _
> 
> _Does this mean… everyone’s dead? _

It was just a modded _Pokémon_ game, but just the thought of it all was far too haunting.

> _"The moon's birthplace"…_

Too shaken to navigate the city any longer, I searched frantically for something, anything, that would console me or provide me with answers, but for a moment, white snow and frozen houses were the only things on the screen. Eventually, I reached the very bottom of the city. There was a boat — the same speedboat from the real DPPt, though the sailor usually stationed upfront was nowhere to be found.

With nowhere else to go, I went down the stairs to and entered the boat, which started moving seconds after I'd gone in, heading to only God-knew-where.


	8. heavy drought

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A boat ride down memory lane.

The inside of the boat was eerie and disgusting — well, as disgusting as the Generation IV DS graphics would allow it to be. I’d never seen the inside of this boat before; in DPPt, I’d just get on and boom, I’d be at my destination. There were no other rooms, only a single, dark, tiny space with mossy walls and impassable holes in the floor. There was background music playing in the area, but it wasn’t from DPPt. At first, I had no idea which BGM it was, but quickly, I recognized the music to be from the third Generation of _Pokémon_ games — _Pokémon Ruby_, _Pokémon Sapphire_, and _Pokémon Emerald_ (RSE for short, or Generation III), or more accurately, from _Emerald_ (as that specific piece of music did not play anywhere in _Ruby_, and its tempo was too low to be from _Sapphire_). It was “Heavy Rain”, the track that originally played in _Sapphire_ when the legendary Pokémon Kyogre, after being summoned by Team Aqua, causes a heavy rainfall onto Hoenn. In the case of the slower and pitched down version in the hack, however, it was the version that plays in _Emerald_ when both Kyogre and the legendary Pokémon Groudon, as a result of being forced awake from their respective resting places by both Team Aqua and Team Magma, engage in a devastating battle with one another, in turn bestowing havoc-wreaking natural disasters throughout Hoenn. In the mod, however, the music was reversed.

> _What is this doing in a Generation IV game? _
> 
> _Yes, the game is modded, but including Generation III music in Pokémon Diamond unedited just seems… off. _

The original music had already given me the chills, but the reversed version… I’m not sure how to explain it, but it had a certain “ring” to it that made it much more imposing than the original, and the way that it seemed to struggle to play among the Generation IV soundfont made it even more unnerving. Suddenly, the screen flashed even as I stood still, glitched-up “wild Pokémon” music started playing, and a battle scene started. Then...

“The GHOST appeared!”

> _Damn it, not this prick … _
> 
> _Why and how the hell is it programmed into a Generation IV game? _

The ghost’s sprite was ripped straight from the very first Generation of _Pokémon_ games:_ Pokémon Red_, _Pokémon Blue_ (or, _Pokémon Green_ in Japan), and _Pokémon Yellow_ (RBY for short, or Generation I), and not unlike the RSE music, it practically fought to exist within the immensely improved and updated graphics, having barely enough coherent pixels to make out what it was. I had a brief burst of memory of my first playthrough of _Pokémon Red_ so many years ago, and my first time exploring Pokémon Tower.

_“Darn! The GHOST can’t be ID’d!”_

_“FLAMEWING is too scared to move!”_

_“Get out… Get out…”_

I hated those things so much — they absolutely terrified me as a kid. Incidentally, “Flamewing” had been the nickname that I had given my Charizard, the evolved form of my very first Pokémon. I had always thought he was completely fearless, until it couldn’t protect me from the Ghost…

I still loved it, though.

> _I miss Flamewing._
> 
> _My damn cartridge just had to corrupt and stop working…_

I snapped out of my thoughts, and got back into the game. My Empoleon got sent out, and I tried to select “Run”, because I figured I couldn’t do anything else, but then:

“Can’t escape!”

> _I can’t attack this thing, I can’t escape from it, so what now… _

“The GHOST used Leer!”

> _These things... can attack now?_
> 
> _So… I guess that means I can attack? _

After it got through with its move, it was my turn. Surprisingly enough, it no longer had the “!!!” attack, but had a new one in its place, called “Light”. Just “Light”.

> _How creative… _

It was really just the move Flash with a different name, but it a different effect then just lowering accuracy. The ghost’s facial expression changed from its usual “happily angry” to... saddish, I'll call it, and vanished on the spot.

“The GHOST fled!”

> _Right… _
> 
> _Because ghosts are scared of light. _
> 
> _That makes sense. _

After the battle scene ended, I was back at the boat scene. Still waiting for the boat to stop, I walked over to a sprite of a shattered porthole on the wall. That place; it somewhat reminded me of another area from RSE… The lower area of the Abandoned Ship; the one you had to use the Dive HM in. It was even complete with the same holes in the floor and the broken portholes.

“You are here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fyi: yes i really did have a charizard named Flamewing in Red and yes my Red cart did actually stop working around the time this was written and i was still pretty much Mourning over it when i first wrote this sobs


	9. time and darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finding the lost citizens, and Dialga.

The text box with that message popped up suddenly, and though I’d never seen that message in any of the games, I was obviously wherever I had to be.

I got off the boat, but instead of remaining stationary as it normally did, the boat sailed off, going backwards instead of forward, going in reverse like a car. For whatever reason, it was only then that I realized that the boat had been riddled with holes, but could still float; something that I focused on for all but a second.

This island I’d been dropped off on appeared to be some sort of secluded forest, and my stomach dropped as the Old Chateau music began to fade in. I walked only two steps before I saw people onscreen — a hoard of NPCs, all whom I recognized to be from Snowpoint, including the Pokémon Center Nurse. This was the first time in a _Pokémon_ game that I’d ever seen a Center Nurse away from behind a counter. I walked up to her and interacted, hoping to get an answer, any answer, as to what was happening.

“…”

That was all she said. That’s all anyone there said, in fact — I walked from person to person, interacting with them all and receiving the same message every time.

“…”

“…”

“…”

That is, until I talked to a female Ace Trainer. “Hail,” was all she said.

She walked away afterward, disappearing offscreen. I was instantly reminded of the scenario in the second Generation of _Pokémon_ games, _Pokémon Gold_, _Pokémon Silver_, and _Pokémon Crystal_ (GSC for short, or Generation II); specifically the scene in the Team Rocket base in Mahogany Town, where a Murkrow that somehow was trained to say “hail Giovanni” gradually leads the player to the power source and unlocks the password-locked door.

> _ All of these throwbacks… _
> 
> _What does this all mean? _

I decided to follow the Ace Trainer, heading in the same direction she strolled off in. When I found her again, she was standing in the center of the island, not moving. I talked to her again.

“Hail DARK,”

She walked away once more.

> _Dark?_

I followed her once more, and this time found her standing in front of an entrance in the trees. I talked to her again.

“Hail DARKRAI.”

> _…Darkrai? _
> 
> _The nightmare Pokémon… _

She didn’t walk away this time. Instead, she kept talking, in a string of textboxes:

“Hail DARKRAI.”

“Hail DARKRAI.”

“Hail DARKRAI.”

“Hail DARKRAI.”

“Hail DARKRAI.”

The final textbox, the text speed moving painstakingly slow, said: “Hhhhhhail DAAAAAAAARKRAIIIIIIIII”

Then, she walked away towards the south, disappearing offscreen again.

I didn’t follow her anymore. Disconcerted did not even begin to describe my current emotions. I was hesitant to enter the now unblocked path, but I did anyway, having nothing else to do other than go back, and I wasn’t doing that.

> _I’m not staying here, or talking to her again. _

I entered an even smaller area, a rocky field with a circle-shaped puddle in the center. In seconds, I knew exactly where I was — New Moon Island, a remote, normally unreachable location where the player can encounter and obtain Darkrai, a mythical Pokémon only obtainable either via a special Nintendo event or through the use of a cheating device, and the Pokémon who’s name the Ace Trainer praised.

> _“To the moon's birthplace”… Right._
> 
> _ But, where’s Darkrai? _

I had figured that it wouldn’t appear now, as I didn’t have the Member Card that was required to get in the Inn in Canalave City and unlock the event. But I couldn’t leave the island.

> _So, now what…_

“Gwaaaa… Gwooooo…”

The text box that had appeared with that message vanished, and the scene shook for a moment.

My body then tensed up when I heard a cry — the all-too-distinguishable cry of a Dialga. But, something about it was... different. It had a low moan to it, like it was… strained, like the noise chip was struggling to emit it. Just then, something appeared from the top of the screen; an overworld sprite, the one of Dialga…

> _My Dialga. _

Its sprite had no animation; it just stood, locked in a single frame. So I walked up to it, and interacted. The second I did, I damn near regretted it.

“Groooo….. Gwaaaa….

H… H… Help…

Help me….”

> _Dialga… _
> 
> _it’s speaking._
> 
> _ It’s speaking REAL HUMAN WORDS. _
> 
> _What’s wrong with it?!_
> 
> _What’s hap…_

Then, another text box appeared.

“Help me… It hurts… It hurts… Make it stop… Make it STOP!!”

Just then, another sprite floated down from the top of the screen, and I recognized this one too; it was the overworld sprite of Darkrai, the elusive Nightmare Pokémon itself. it's color scheme more saturated and eye-strain inducing than normal. It floated over to me, and, much to my surprise, began talking.

“The legend of time… It belonged to you?”

And I was given the options of “Yes” and “No”. I chose “Yes”; it was mine, after all.

“As predicted.”

It floated back over to my Dialga.

“You see… The being of time… It is powerless.”

> _What are…? _

“Space… It’s all mine now.

And now, the flow of time itself… BELONGS TO ME AS WELL!”

The screen flashed, and Dialgi’s yowl echoed from the speakers again, but it lasted longer than a half-a-second like it normally did. It rolled out for about ten seconds, slowly making a horrifying transition. It turned from a horse-like cry to a screech; a hellish mesh of Dialga’s cry and the ungodly tone of a game violently bugging out. As Dialgi’s overworld sprite quivered profusely, the screeching continued, the noise burned into my head; it sounded like the noise the DS made when it crashed, only so, so much worse. All the while, Dialgi’s blue hide was changing; it got darker and darker until it changed into a pure, inky black, matching Darkrai’s blackened and oversaturated hide. The screeching finally stopped, but I had no chance to feel relieved. Dialgi was now completely black, its eyes having an unexplainable glimmer of animosity. Its sprite was animated now, and Darkrai turned to me.

“You managed to defeat the deity of time when it was weaker…” it said. “Now… Just try to defeat it under my power!”

Before I had time to even come to terms what had happened, Dialgi dashed over to me and the screen flashed. A battle was starting.

“DIALGI appeared!”

Its in-battle sprite frightened me more than the overworld sprite. Dialgi’s skin was black, its claws even longer than usual, fangs exposed, and eyes even redder than usual, having a sinister glow in them, as if it were out to do away with me instead of just battling me. I realized that those eyes matched the one on the box of this game. Its cry was an unsavory cluster of sound bytes, and it was whopping level 100 rather than level 55. I sent out Empoleo, and the battle started. It’s silly, but I’ll be honest; when I’ve had a Pokémon long enough, I tend to become emotionally attached to them, as if they were my own pets. In other words, I didn’t want to attack my Dialga, and I tried to flee, even though I should have known it wouldn’t work.

“Can’t escape!”

I had to attack it. However, it appeared as if I couldn’t do that either. All of my attacks had no PP in them, and when I selected one, Empoleo did not use Struggle. It almost seemed as if my Empoleo did not want to attack my Dialga, and its comrade. It was Dialgi’s turn.

“DIALGI used _______!”

There was a black aura animated around Dialgi, an aura that soon exploded into a ray of darkness. The attack, whatever it was, did a devastating amount of damage, and I watched as my Empoleon's HP dropped to zero at such a lightning-fast speed that I caught maybe one frame of the HP animation at most.

“EMPOLEO fainted!”

I wasn't asked to switch; in retrospect, I realize that it would be useless anyway, since no Pokémon would have attacked. The battle scene faded out.

“As I anticipated,” Darkrai said upon the transition to the overworld scene. Something was in front of it this time, however — an item. On impulse, I walked over to the item and interacted. “

??? obtained the Escape Rope!”

“??? used the Escape Rope!”

I spun around and shot upward offscreen; the usual “escape” animation.

“Farewell, my friend,” Darkrai said. “We’ll see each other again very soon, I promise.”

And the screen faded out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes the title is a PMD ref


	10. White roofs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Exploring an unknown city, and briefly finding some old friends.

> _Where am I going?_
> 
> _What's going to happen to my Dialga?_

For a few seconds, all was white, in contrast to all the black screens I’d seen prior. Then, another image began to fade in. Upon entering the screen completely, it appeared to be a small town — and not a town from the other three games, or from any other _Pokémon_ game, for that matter. No music played, making my entire room deathly silent. The town had but four houses, each of them a pure white with gray doors, and each having two windows. The unknown town also had a Pokémon Center and Mart, though I could only indicate this based on their designs; each of their roofs was stark white rather than the respective red and blue. The ground was covered in plain grass tiles in one section, and another section to the right-hand area had sand titles with a small lake among them, along with a small patch of wild Pokémon grass in the center of the town. There were no other people outside, rendering me all alone.

I decided to enter the Pokémon Center first, as I felt that doing so would be the most appropriate. Upon trying to go through the door, however, the game said: “The door is locked.” Pokémon Centers were usually never locked in the games, so I understood in an instant that something was wrong here as well.

> _Has Darkrai taken over this place, too? _

Something was off about the Mart as well; the windows were pitch black, meaning that the lights must have been out. I didn’t go in; I was scared of what awaited beyond the door. Then, I remembered the patch of grass in the middle of the town, and headed for it. I walked in, then after about three steps, the screen flashed, and a wild Pokémon battle started.

“FEATHERNO appeared!”

I stared at the screen, stunned.

“Featherno” was a level 62 Pigeot. It… was my Pigeot, from my _Pokémon Red_ game, which I had also lost along with Flamewing.

> _But why is it here, in this hack? _

I expected to send out my Staravia, since my Empoleon had fainted earlier. However —

“??? sent out EMPOLEO!”

Empoleo somehow had full HP, and full PP as well. It never got to attack Featherno, though.

“FEATHERNO fled!” the game said before fading out.

> _That’s a first; a Pokémon fleeing before I even get to select an option. _

I returned to the overworld town. I made several attempts to leave the grassy area, but with each tile of grass I stepped on, I encountered another Pokémon; each being a Pokémon from my old _Red_ party, each in their nicknamed-by-a-five-year-old glory — Blue the level 68 Gyarados, Small the level 62 Butterfree, Stinger the level 60 Beedrill, and Boat the level 68 Lapras, each of them fleeing upon being encountered in the same fashion as Featherno. It was as if whoever hacked the game knew all about my history with Pokémon games; a thought that unnerved me on a visceral level.

I finally escaped from the grass. Pondering over what had just happened, I walked over to the small, nearby pond, but I saw no reflection. Curious, I interacted with it.

“You cannot use Surf here.”

I didn’t question it. I just got the hell away from that pond, as I felt that something horrible could have happened if I hadn’t. Do note: I understand that, as far as I know, the real-life me was in no actual danger, everything only happening in a game, but my lingering apprehension, induced from the incident in the GameStop hours ago and the unsettling aura that shrouded me on the way home, kept me from thinking rationally.

There appeared to be nothing else of note outside, so I considered inspecting the interiors of the houses. Needless to say, I was reluctant — I hadn’t the slightest idea what or who could be in any of them; it could have been something helpful, or something that would plague my dreams forever. But, with nothing else to do and nowhere else to go, I took my chances, held my breath, and went into the house I was closest to.

The house I entered was empty, only having a large red table with two brown chairs at each end of it. The walls were white like the exterior of the building, and the floor was gray. The house was surprisingly ordinary; I saw nothing of note as I walked around the table, seeing generic Generation IV potted tree sprites in the corner of the room, and a refrigerator and stove along the wall — standard Generation IV home decor. I walked over to the stove and interacted; it was a random thing to examine, but something told me that it wasn’t a bad place to start.

“It hasn’t been used in a while,” the message read.

The situation explained itself; the place was abandoned. It had probably been abandoned for a long time. I decided that there was nothing useful here, so I decided to leave. But when I reached the rightmost end of the table, I saw what looked like the sprite of a book at the edge of it, a book that either hadn’t been there before, or that I somehow completely overlooked. When I walked up to it and interacted with it, it read as follows:

“?????, 2009

Finally… We found it. This place — it is the refuge we were looking for. Refuge away from that monster. That dark, ghostly monster. It invaded our home, tainted our Pokémon, and vowed to take control of time and space… We don’t understand the meaning of any of this. There appears to be no hope; no hope at all. We don’t wish to stay here, but we can’t leave. We must only pray that the monster does not find us, that it does not kill us on sight. We have also found, however, that Pokémon from other regions have sought refuge here, but from what? Perhaps from Darkrai, perhaps from another malevolent force? Who knows… But they're all so powerful, too powerful to have been raised by nature alone. Maybe they will protect us. Hopefully they will.”

This was the first time I’d seen the word “kill” in a _Pokémon_ game since _Pokémon FireRed_ and _LeafGreen_ (or FRLG for short), the Generation III remakes of RBY (which also featured the word “kill”), in reference to a young Cubone’s mother, whom had been slaughtered by a member of Team Rocket in her ultimately successful effort to protect her child and whom haunted the Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town.

> _But, why would a Pokémon want to kill innocent people? _
> 
> _What would drive it to do something like this? _
> 
> _…Ugh, I keep asking myself so many questions… _
> 
> _I want some answers. _

“Turn to next page?

>Yes

No”

I chose “Yes”. I figured that the more I read, the more information I might get.

“?????, 2009

My dear mother; she speaks less and less with each passing night, she hasn’t left this house since we’ve arrived. She’s so deeply traumatized, afraid, and I don’t judge her for it; I’m just like her, after all. We were forced to leave behind Petunia, our beloved MEGANIUM, who’s been part of our family before I could even walk. I still remember her screeches of pain… She cried for help… She cried in words, words we could understand clearly. This perplexed us, frightened us; we didn't know what to do. We remember how her rich green flesh turned into a horrifying pitch black, and her beautiful yellow eyes drenched in blood red. That monster did it, that wretched fiend… We shall not forgive, nor forget. For our own safety, we can’t. Even our other poor Pokémon would not attack Petunia, though that may have been a blessing, as we blacked out and were taken here. I long for Petunia, I long for home, I long for how things were…

There are dried teardrops all over this page…

Turn to next page?

>Yes

No”

At that point I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue, as the emotions overcoming me, whether they were actually warranted or not, were overwhelming. What had happened to my Dialga had very clearly happened to others as well, and I couldn’t help picturing thousands of Pokémon being forced under Darkrai’s control, their trainers watching in the same helpless terror I did.

_All the screeches of agony… _

I didn’t have to wonder about the teardrops; whoever wrote this entry was surely crying their eyes out in grief while doing so. I couldn’t blame them — I’d definitely cry too, if I lived in that world, putting the horrors I’d seen down on paper and having to relive them again, and I could empathize at the moment, since the exact same thing happened to Dialgi. After getting myself together, however, I selected “Yes”.

“???????, ???????????????

We can’t stay here anymore. We’re afraid; in fear of the monster. We have no bed, no other rooms; only a stove that barely operates, and an empty refrigerator. Staying here only brings about more sorrow, more pain. So, tomorrow, we shall leave for the mountain in the distance. We’ve wondered about it the moment we were taken here, and we feel that it contains hope... I can feel an arcane energy bursting from it, one I can’t explain. I have no use for this log any longer, so I shall abandon it here, for every potential survivor to read and understand…

… You are not alone here.

The rest of the pages are blank…”

After I finished reading all of the entries, the screen said: “??? obtained the Diary! ??? put the Diary in the Key Items pocket,” and the book sprite vanished.

I quickly walked out of the building, my mind spinning from what I’d just read. The people who lived there had gone near-mad with fear, and part of me was scared that I would find them there. They might snap my neck if they saw me. Not out of actual ill intentions, not out of malice, but because they may have been jaded from their fright, acting in brisk self-defense. Again, I understand that it was just a game, and my real-life person was in no true danger either way, but all logical thinking was clouded by my dread, and I stayed on my toes.

I walked into the neighboring house. This house was different from the other one, however — the walls were gray and the floors where white, almost like an inversion of the other house. There was no furniture, only an orange carpet in the center, with what appeared to be an overworld sprite of a Clefairy in the center of it. I walked over to it and interacted.

“There’s a small tear on its arm…”

I realized that the sprite wasn’t of a real Clefairy, but of a Poké Doll, an item that’s usually used to flee from Pokémon battles without fail, regardless of the wild Pokémon's abilities or your Pokémon's speed.

> _But… a tear on its arm? _

A thought surfaced less than a second after making the discovery, realization hitting me like a jolt.

_“Oh! That’s my Poké Doll! The one a boy gave me three years ago… it has the same tear on it! Thank you!” _

I remember whose doll this was. It belonged to Copycat, a female NPC who lived in Saffron City in the first two Generations and their remakes and who enjoyed mimicking people’s words and actions for fun.

> _To imagine her without her doll, in a place like this… It’s jarring. _

There was nothing else in the place, so I left quickly. To my surprise, I was greeted by the overworld sprite of what seemed to be a Doduo standing outside the door. It walked up to me on its own and spoke to me.

“Where, oh where could she ever be? Did that monster chase her away? We’re lost. Please help us… Won’t you?

>Yes

No”

As odd as the talking Doduo was, this wasn’t abnormal, believe it or not — in the respective games she appeared in, Copycat owned a Doduo who had somehow been trained to talk.

_“_ _Mirror Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?” I remember it saying back in Pokémon Red. _

It, along with the doll, had been left behind, with Copycat nowhere to be found in the town. Without even thinking twice, I selected “Yes”, as I could never bring myself to say no.

“Thank you… You’re our hero.”

“??? has obtained the DODUO!”

As soon as that message left the screen and the Doduo sprite disappeared from the overworld, I immediately went back into the house I’d left, and, following my mind, interacted with the doll again.

“??? obtained the Poké Doll!

??? put the Poké Doll in the Key Items pocket.”

I figured that it would be best to tote it around; it might be useful later.

Upon exiting the house for a second time, the screen said, “The door locked behind you…”

I was unsettled by that, but I shrugged it off as yet another bizarre occurrence in this game. I tried to go into the other two houses, but neither of the doors would open. Instead, I got a message each time.

“No one’s here. We’ve sought shelter elsewhere; anywhere but here. Don’t try to come in; there’s nothing here that can help you.

-Those waiting for a savior”

Both doors said the exact same thing, down to signing off with “Those waiting for a savior”.

> _A savior? _

In the back of my mind, I understood that at some point, I would probably have to step in and play a part in helping whoever had written those notes, whoever had written in that diary, whoever else was in this place.

Just then, as soon as I finished reading the final note on the last house, something happened.

Something that would alter the narrative drastically.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Rival Crew (which im v sure most people clicked on this for) is finally going to appear in the next chapter, Buckle Up
> 
> also shoutout to Boat the Lapras


	11. The true objective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unexpected familiar face, and a revelation.

An NPC walked up to me from the right of the screen. It wasn’t a generic Generation IV NPC, however — his sprite depicted him with a red coat, and a yellow and black hat that resembled an Ultra Ball. Then, on the spot, I recognized exactly who it was. It was Gold (or Ethan rather, as his canon game name is, but I shall be referring to him as Gold in the following recount, it being the widely accepted name for him), the male playable character from GSC, but, appropriately, using his sprite from _Pokémon HeartGold_ and _Pokémon SoulSilver_ (or HGSS for short), the Generation IV remakes of GSC, though the color palette was devamped to match the original GSC sprite’s.

> _But…Why? Why is he here?_

“So,” he said when he stopped in front of me, “it got another one, huh?”

He turned away from me for a second, then he turned back to me and said, “…Come with me.”

He walked over to the Mart, the same one I was too scared to go into, me automatically following behind him.

“Here,” Gold turned to me and said. “Take this.”

“??? obtained 30 [the _Pokémon_-exclusive symbol for the in-verse currency]!”

“Go in,” he said. “Don’t be scared, I’m here for ya.”

I was hesitant, but I listened to him, for whatever reason feeling a bit safer among his presence.

When I went in, I instantly understood that my fear of going in was justified. The mart was edited to be in complete shambles — there were tiny, angular sprites depicting shards of broken glass on the floor, the shelf sprites appeared empty and had bits of brownish-red spots here and there, and there was the typical Generation IV sprite of a TV lying on the ground, though edited to look like the screen was broken…

> _Broken TV... _
> 
> _Broken glass shards... _
> 
> _Reddish brown spots on the shelves..._

My heart skipped a beat again, maybe even two.

This scene was too familiar, far, FAR too familiar, and I understood why; it was an ingame replica of the GameStop I’d entered that morning. Every detail matched. It was at that moment that I realized that my ingame currency even amounted to thirty, just like the thirty dollars that had inexplicably showed up in my yard, that I had when I went there. It seemed as if Gold somehow was somehow aware of that, and didn't give me the money to actually buy anything, but because he wanted me to see the connection.

> _But… What does this all mean? _

I walked a step forward, and the screen flashed.

“Wild SPINARAK appeared!”

I understood that this shop had its own spiders as well. Not even bothering to attack, I fled from the battle. Upon returning to the overworld scene, I noticed that the clerk NPC behind the counter, their hair brown and uniform blue and red (as was usual for said NPC in DPPt), turned in my direction after I’d taken that one step towards them.

> _Just like Marcus. _

I then saw something else ahead — the sprite of another clerk NPC that would usually accompany the former clerk in DPPt, with the same hair color and uniform colors, but flipped to be horizontal, likely to resemble them lying on the floor.

> _Just like Angela. _

Without talking to either of them, I promptly left the shop, having seen all that I wanted to see.

When I went back outside, however, I was greeted by over twenty NPCs outside, along with Gold, all of them facing my direction.

> _Just like the people I saw through the broken GameStop door. _

“The people you saw in the mart?” Gold said. “They escaped fast enough to end up here, but not fast enough to go out unscathed. These people you see here… They all had their Pokémon, their friends, taken away from them, just like you, just like me. They want your help. They need your help.

So… Are you up for it?

>Yes

No”

I finally understood.

I was the “savior” everyone was waiting for. It was my duty to stop Darkrai’s reign over the world and its people and Pokémon. Suddenly, having finally grasped what the true purpose of the game and its storyline was, I could feel my apprehension and fear begin to transition into willpower.

Thus, I chose “Yes”.

“…Good answer.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "but, his name is canonically Ethan, not Go-" please save it


	12. Fateful encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reuniting with one last old friend, and finding a familiar little girl.

Gold stayed quiet for a brief moment, once again facing away from me.

“Head for the mountain. You can find it by going upward. Can’t miss it.”

Gold walked one step forward.

“We’ll go on ahead. I’ll meet you there. See ya for now.”

Then, he walked away with the NPCs all following behind him, leaving me alone once more.

This aforementioned mountain — I was almost sure that it was the same one the people who lost their Meganium fled to, and for a second, I was afraid that I would meet them there, as I still suspected they’d act violently in self-defense. But, I shook off that fear right away as my coherent side finally reared its head — nothing was going to hurt me in the real world regardless, and plus, the people of the Pokémon world needed someone to help them, so no matter what was ahead, I knew I had to move on. Yes, it was just a game set in a fictional world, but for some reason, I was more than determined to complete it, to save it, and that determination was a feeling that I accepted.

With that, I continued towards where I was told to go, getting farther and farther from the nameless town until the grassy ground disappeared, and I began treading upon what seemed to be snow, judging by the tiny footprint sprites I began to leave behind. Very soon after, I arrived at what appeared to be the base of a mountain; not a brown mountain, however, but a white mountain.

> _When I was first playing this hack, everything was dark and black… _
> 
> _Now everything is light and white… _

The mountain was indeed shrouded in snow and began with short, icy looking stairs in the middle of the base. I climbed up, and as I did so, music slowly began fading in. The music got progressively louder until it was fully audible, and I recognized it to be music taken straight from the HGSS soundtrack; it was the music that plays in both the Glitter Lighthouse in Olivine City and on Mt. Silver to the north of the Indigo Plateau. Every time I heard this music in those games, I knew that something intense was about to go down; it was no different in this situation either, very far from it. I kept walking, but with utmost awareness of the current backdrop, because judging by what had already happened in this game, anything could happen now.

The mountain was long and vast. I had come across no wild Pokémon yet, but it was no matter to me — the less my Pokémon had to fight, the less energy my Pokémon would lose, and the less time I would waste. I eventually did come across a small patch of wild Pokémon grass, in a corner and practically unnoticeable. It wasn’t the usual green; matching the surroundings, it was a whitish-blue, as if it was covered in snow. I quickly found that I couldn’t actually walk into it, being met with the “bump” sound effect when I tried. Instead, I interacted with it using the “A” button, seeing what this was all about.

“This patch of grass is frozen and impossible to walk in…”

Then, out of nowhere, the screen flashed and a wild Pokémon battle started.

> _So, there are Pokémon up here… _

The Pokémon that appeared was a…

> _…Charizard?_

“FLAMEWING appeared!”

My heart skipped another beat — no, it skipped three beats, four even.

> _Flamewing…?_
> 
> _My... My old Charizard?_

He was the only one of _Red_ party Pokémon that hadn’t appeared in the town.

> _Why is…? I can't believe it..._

Speaking purely metaphorically, it was supposed to have been dead for over six years.

“FLAMEWING is frozen solid!”

The message was followed by the “frozen” animation.

He was a level 99, the way I’d left him. I never got to raise him to a level 100.

“??? sent out VENGEANCE!” the screen said as I sent out a Ninetales instead of Empoleon.

> _Vengeance? My Ninetales from my regular Diamond game, that I have in a PC box right now? _

Apparently, after Dialgi vanished, it was added to my party automatically at some point without me even noticing or without the game telling me such. She was a level 63, still a higher level than my Dialga. I wondered why it was in the first slot instead of my Empoleon, and why my Ninetales, of all Pokémon, was with me to begin with. I answered my own questions right away — I needed to unfreeze my Charizard, and my Ninetales was the highest level fire-type I had, and its Flamethrower would do the trick without doing too much damage to Flamewing, while still being able to protect me during regular battles just in case. Again, the game was setting its own events up, as if every single aspect of it was scripted.

“VENGEANCE used Flamethrower!”

It didn’t do much damage, just as I’d anticipated.

“It’s not very effective…”

“FLAMEWING thawed out!”

“FLAMEWING fled!”

The battle scene faded out, but there was a small overworld sprite next to me; Charizard’s, the sprite being taken straight from HGSS. Flamewing was coming with me.

> _Does he maybe… Remember me? _
> 
> _No, Pokémon Red is only a game, and the Pokémon didn’t know who was playing it, right?_
> 
> _But I guess it doesn't matter either way; Ihe's here._

I was glad he was coming, as he helped me feel even more reassured and even more invested in the story. I “talked” to Flamewing, and the screen said: “FLAMEWING nodded slowly.” I remembered this line — if you talked to your Pokémon while in the Pokémon League in HGSS, it would say the same thing, so something important was about to occur.

Having recruited Flamewing, I continued up the mountain, walking up some stairs placed near the icy grass. After climbing them, I had walked about more two steps when a text box popped up, its quote from an unknown source, only marked with "???".

“Sniff… DODUO… Where are you?”

I was confused for a second, but then remembered the Doduo I’d found earlier.

> _Is that Copycat? _

I walked forward some more, eventually coming across a cave entrance. When I entered, I found a young girl in the middle of a surprisingly small cavern, whom I assumed to be Copycat, as she had the same NPC model she has in the normal games. I walked up to her and talked to her.

“WAAAH!” she shouted. “? Oh… I thought you were that scary monster… Who are you? Are you lost too?”

Suddenly, Doduo’s sprite appeared beside me.

“DODUO!” Copycat said. “There you are! I’m so, so glad you’re OK!”

The Doduo said, “We missed you, Copy! She is our hero!”

Copycat walked up to me and said, “Thank you very much… Wait, what’s that you have there?”

I suddenly remembered the Poké Doll as well.

“Hey, that’s my Poké Doll… I left it at that house and I was too scared to go back and get it! Thank you for holding it for me!”

“??? gave Copycat the Poké Doll!” the game said.

“Thank you a whole bunch… You’re welcome!”

I could tell from her dialogue that she had copied the protag's offscreen words, a la the normal games. Even in all of the current chaos, she hadn’t really changed a bit in terms of playfulness, something that gave me a sense of comfort.

“Here, have this as my thanks! I found buried it in the snow… I don’t know what it is, but it’s pretty!”

“??? obtained the White Shard!”

“??? put the White Shard in the Key Items pocket.”

“I’m gonna stay here for now, to be safe,” Copycat said. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be OK now! Bye-bye, good luck, and thanks again… You’re welcome, stay safe!”

“Farewell, hero!” the Doduo said.

With that, I walked out of the cave, thinking about what the new item could possibly be used for.


	13. Grief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Getting the group together. (alternate summary: Silver Is A Disaster Boy Who Is Bad At Feelings)

I continued ascending the mountain, wondering where Gold could be. As I walked, I noticed that the background music had been very subtly growing louder with each passing second, now much louder than it had originally been. It was as if it was telling me, “You’re getting higher, closer to danger”.

I saw no other cave entrances as I went on, and I began wondering if there was any other entrance at all. The light snowfall eventually morphed into a full-fledged blizzard, one so strong that it was practically blocking my view of the screen, very similar to the blizzard on route 217 from the normal DPPt. Luckily, also a la DPPt, there was just enough vision granted for me to see.

Soon, I noticed that the mountain grew increasingly narrow; I was almost at the peak, or at least I hoped so. Sure enough, after just a few more steps, I saw a cave entrance with someone standing in front of it — Gold. He talked to me the moment I walked up to him, without me even having to press anything.

“Finally, you made it. You brought a friend with you, huh? Good, the more help we have, the better.”

He looked toward the cave opening.

“…Let’s not talk out here, I'm freezing. Let’s go in.”

He entered the cave, and I followed right behind him.

The cave, other than the obvious absence of a snowstorm, was no different on the inside — it had white walls, and there was still some snow on the ground, judging by the footprints I was still making as I continued to walk forward, with my Charizard still behind me. The cave was also notably occupied; there were NPCs of many Trainer classes there, including Bug Catchers, Youngsters, Lasses, and Ace Trainers. Because the cave was reasonably large, there was more than enough room for the playing character to walk. As I walked in Gold's direction I talked to some of the people there, and they said a variety of things, including the following:

“I miss my MARILL…”

“I was defeated by a powerful Pokémon, and I ended up here!”

“Where is this? It’s so cold…”

“I want to go home to Hoenn, I want my papa…”

I finally reached Gold, who was in front of another entrance.

“Come on in,” he said. He didn’t go in first, but he merely cleared the way for me. I talked to him again before entering, hesitant.

“It’s fine. Go in.”

I did as he asked.

I had entered another room, one that wasn’t white like the previous room. It was brown, like caves normally were in _Pokémon_ games. At first it appeared empty, but then three characters appeared onscreen from above, very familiar characters. One had brown hair, another had a white hat on, and the third had blonde hair…

I knew who they were. They were three rivals from the real _Pokémon_ games— Brendan from RSE (his sprite revamped to fit the Generation IV graphics), Blue (also known as Green in the original Japanese release, or “Gary” by most fans, after his anime counterpart) from RBY and the remakes, his HGSS sprite used (but palette dulled to be closer to the RBY palette), and Barry from DPPt, the Generation that this mod was set in. I then theorized that the music and setting that transpired on the boat and the Ace Trainer on the island may have been a form of foreshadowing — the mesh of generation mechanics hinting at their presence.

Gold walked in behind me.

“Hm?” he said. “Do you know these people? You look surprised…”

In real life, I was indeed surprised, very surprised; I never expected to see my past rivals in this game. It was strangely comforting — just as I felt went I found Gold, and found my Charizard, I felt less alone, protected even more.

“Hey, you,” Blue said, taking a step forward towards me. “’You get a Pokémon stolen from you?

>Yes

No”

I chose “Yes”.

“Yep, same deal,” he responded. “My BLASTOISE. What Pokémon WAS that, anyway, that stole it? I’ve never seen it before until now…”

I found out right away why he had a Blastoise; in _Pokémon Red_, because I chose the Fire-type Charmander as my starter, Blue had chosen the Water-type Squirtle to deliberately set up a type disadvantage, a tactic that would be traditional for rivals to use in the Generations to come.

Barry turned to face Blue.

“I told you…" he said. "it was DARKRAI. It’s a legendary Pokémon that locks its enemies in nightmares, and it’s usually hanging out in Sinnoh, outta everyone's way. But I’ve never heard anything about it controlling Pokémon… It took my TORTERRA!”

Brendan spoke next. “And it took my SCEPTILE too. Whatever it is, and wherever it came from, we gotta find out where it is now and how to end all this…”

Just then, another person walked onscreen; it was the sprite of an elderly male NPC, his textbox rendering him unnamed.

“Sirs … I’ve met an issue,” the man said.

“What’s up?” Gold asked.

“I’ve been trying to calm that young man down, but I fear he's hearing none of it.”

“Sigh… Alright, I’ll try to talk some sense into him. He’s always been like this…”

“We’ll come on with ya,” Blue said. Gold, Blue, Barry, Brendan, and the old man walked upward offscreen, leaving me and my Charizard alone.

> _There’s someone else here?_

I followed them, only to find them gathered around someone else.

> _A trainer? _

He was facing the northern wall, so I couldn’t see his face, but I could see that he had dark red hair, and a black jacket as well…

> _…I know him too. _

It was Silver, the rival from GSC and the remakes, his HGSS sprite used, but like Gold, the colors were devamped to match the original GSC palette. I walked up to him and pressed the “A” button. He did nothing, however, as if I didn’t even interact with him. So, I pressed it over and over again, seeing if it was a bug in the game.

Suddenly, out of nowhere and before I could give up, he turned around to face me.

“Who the hell are you?” he said. “What the HELL do you want?”

I was incredibly taken aback — not only because of how abrupt Silver’s eventual response was, but also because of the way that he swore at me. This was a Pokémon game, a children’s game…

…No. Although this hack, despite the glitches, was _extremely_ well done and had a ton of effort put into it, this was still a hacked game, and people who make bootlegs and ROM hacks of children’s games, particularly hackers who are teenagers or VERY young adults, always seem to think it either comedy gold or counterculture to haphazardly slap unnecessary vulgarities everywhere that their ROM-editing software will allow them to. Be it constant profanity, references to sex and porn every two seconds, drug references, or all three of those, it was almost guaranteed to be in a ROM hack. _Pokémon Quartz_, one of the more notorious _Pokémon_ bootlegs, is a chief case in point, as well as many other, more run-of-the-mill examples showcased and easily found on video hosting websites.

“Cool it, Silver,” Gold said. “She’s just as shaken as you are right now.”

“Master Silver,” the elderly man said, “please, try to stay calm…”

Silver turned to the elder.

“Listen here, old man, in case your decrepit brain has already forgotten, my MEGAMIUM was stolen from me, ripped away from me! By that… that THING!! It was screaming and hurt… And I couldn’t do ANYTHING but stand there! And my other Pokémon did NOTHING to stop that monster, they just STOOD there!”

He turned away from everyone, once again facing the wall.

“All of you… Just shut up and le…leave me alone! Get… Get away from me… It’s so cold in this place…So cold in this place… So…”

I had to catch my breath. Those curses; they weren’t just added for show like all the other swear words in bootlegs. They were said out of anger, out of frustration, out of full-blown fear. I could tell that the Silver in this hack was at that point after the events of GSC/HGSS, where he truly cared about his Pokémon rather than treating them like disposable commodities as he originally had. Thus, I knew that nothing anyone told him at that point could ease his current anger from losing his most prized Pokémon, and I also knew, even at his stage where he finally saw real value in his Pokémon for more than heir power, he was still far too prideful to admit anything of the sort.

“Poor, poor boy …” said the old man, apparently unfazed by Silver’s hostility towards him.

“…Alright.”

Everyone turned to Gold, who’d been the one to speak.

“Let’s leave him alone until he gets ahold of himself,” he said.

“...Very well,” the old man said.

With that, they all walked downward, once again leaving me alone with Silver. I interacted with him one last time, curious as to wait he would say.

“M… MEGANIUM…” he said, not turning to face me.

With no options to comfort him, I followed the others, Flamewing following me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> seriously tho remember when pokemon hacking was big and like almost every RSE hack video on YT was some Edgy Sex Murder XD Hack. Good Times


	14. The conference

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The elder enlightens the crowd, the final group member arrives, and plans for escape transpire.

We walked back into the first room, leaving Silver alone.

“So, now what?” Blue said.

The old man walked in front of the crowd of NPCs.

“We shall pay the boy no mind for now. He is in a very bad place at the moment, understandably. I’m sure he will join us once he’s regained his composure,” he said. “Now, back to the true matter at hand. I’ve something important to say to you all, to everyone, as I am familiar with this place.”

He walked a step closer to the crowd. “Your attention, please, everyone!”

The NPCs turned toward the old man.

“Now, firstly, this area… It is known as ‘Purezza’.”

Everyone started talking to one another, a flurry of different text boxes indicating such.

“’Purezza’?”

“Never heard of it…”

“Isn’t that the name of a food?”

The old man said, “Silence, please!”

Everyone turned back around to him, the halting text boxes representing the conversations ending.

“This place… It is of light, of safety. But alas, it is quite small.”

Blue looked in the elder’s direction.

“Hey, old timer…” he asked. “What region is this?”

“Hm?”

“What region? Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, or Sinnoh?”

The elder just stood there for a moment, going, “……………”

Then, he finally said, “This… is in no region.”

“Wha…” Barry said. “Then, where is this? In space?”

“No, child, although you are not too far off... We are in a dimension between our world and the alternate.”

The text boxes returned as the NPCs began talking to each other again.

“A… Another dimension?!”

“Then. how do I get home?”

“Yes,” the elder said. "Another dimension.”

Brendan walked over to the elder.

“So,” he said, “we’re basically out of the Pokémon world then? Is that it?”

The old man said, “No. We are still in the Pokémon world. It’s rather difficult to explain…”

Gold walked over to the elder as well, and asked, “Can you tell us why we all ended up here after our Pokémon were taken from us?”

“Yes, I can,” the old man began. “You see, that creature you all witnessed is native to Sinnoh, normally quietly resigning on a remote isle known as New Moon Island, a place normally only accessed through special means. Its name is DARKRAI.”

An NPC in the crowd of people, a Lass, stepped forward.

“DARKRAI… It’s the one that gives people nightmares, right?” she asked. “That’s what my mom told me.”

“Yes, correct,” the elder continued. “It has the outstanding ability to plunge its victims into an incapacitating nightmare. But, it is only known to do so to its enemies, to those who threaten its life or its safety, or when it has lost control of its power due to pain or suffering; nightmares bestowed by DARKRAI are a rare occurrence, and there are no records of it doing so without reason.”

“Whew, that’s a relief,” Blue said. “For a second there I was scared that I would have a nasty surprise the next time I took a nap, heh!”

“Sigh… To be young and a jokester again… Anyway, yes, DARKRAI is known for doing such, but not ever for forcing any control on Pokémon. This is all very much abnormal…”

Another NPC, this one a Lady, stepped forward and asked, “Excuse me, good Sir… You may not believe me, but the DARKRAI took my TAILLOW, and I could have sworn that TAILLOW spoke… I heard it literally call for help. Or was I just going nuts out of fear?”

The Lady then turned in my direction, and said, “What’s wrong? You want to say something? … What?! Your Pokémon said something too?! How peculiar…”

“I have answers to that as well,” the elder continued. “Apparently; DARKRAI now has the ability to enable human speech on Pokémon. When or where exactly it gained this power, I know not, as it usually had no such capabilities. But it torments the helpless trainer this way, and it also torments any other Pokémon the trainer may have, sending them into a paralyzed state of shock, allowing the possessed Pokémon to attack the trainer against its will. Originally, after it was successful, DARKRAI possessed the trainers as well, which explains all of the people currently still held captive on New Moon Island, all unresponsive, save for their tributes towards DARKRAI. The energy of this area, however, began to detect that immense, otherworldly darkness from miles away and was eventually able to pull all beings of light away from it, and thus, all defeated trainers started to be taken here. But, the area is unable to save creatures already tainted by the darkness, hence why your lost Pokémon and the seized humans are not with us right now. In the beginning, DARKRAI was agitated by this, but it soon grew to accept it, feeling as though the stolen Pokémon sufficed well enough.”

Brendan turned to the old man and said, “Sir… how do you know all of this?”

Stepping towards the old man, Blue said, “Yeah, are you in cahoots with this DARKRAI thing?!” Then, stepping back, he said “Wait, no, bad thing to say… Sorry.”

The elder said, “No need to be, child. I know you are afraid. You all are. I can assure you that I am in no way associated with DARKRAI, especially not in its current state — I've just been watching.”

> _Watching… _

The elder told everyone, “The only known way to leave here is with an item called the White Shard, a small, yet very powerful item.”

> _Wait… _

“White Shard?" Barry said. "In a place like this, it could be anywhere…”

Barry turned to me. “You alright? You seem like you have something to say.”

After that, an exclamation point bubble popped up above the old man’s head, the same kind that typically appears above a trainer’s head before they challenge the spotted player to a battle.

“You…” he said to me. “You have it? Show me, please, I need to know if what you speak of truly is the one…”

The bag screen opened on its own, and it was on the “Key Items” section. The first item on the list was the diary from earlier; it had a blue cover and yellow-ish pages. The description was as follows: “An abandoned journal with tales of woe in every page,” which I certainly could confirm to be true. I remembered putting the Poké Doll in this section of the bag as well… but I had already given it to Copycat.

> _How is she, anyway? _
> 
> _She’s probably still in that tunnel with her Doduo… _
> 
> _I hope she’s safe. _

The next item was the White Shard. It was a diamond-shaped, crystal-like object with a string attached to it. I selected it.

“This is it…” the man said. “The White Shard! Wherever did you find this?

… Copycat? The young girl who lost her DODUO? She went out looking for it, and hasn’t returned… I sent another young trainer along with a young friend of mine out looking for…”

“Mister! We found her!” someone else cut him off, the source of it being offscreen and left unnamed. A young girl NPC, her sprite being a Twin sprite, walked up to the old man and hopped up and down twice.

“She was stuck in a cave on the mountain, but we got her!” she said.

Two more people walked into the scene, Copycat being one of them.

“I remember meeting this boy a long time ago, but now he saved me…” Copycat said. “He’s awesome!”

There was a trainer next to her; he also looked familiar… but he didn’t say anything. In fact, all his text box said was: “……………………”

I knew who he was too… there was no way I could forget. It was Red, a trainer who was appointed Pokémon Master by most of the _Pokémon _fanbase, and life-long rival of Blue. Similar to Blue and Gold, His HGSS sprite was used, but the colors was devamped to be closer to his RBY palette. I along with many others had played as him in _Pokémon Red_, and I unexpectedly laid eyes on him again on Mt. Silver in _Pokémon Gold;_ I remember my heart leaping out of my chest when I saw his high-level Pikachu. I realized that he was most likely a victim of the game's circumstances as well, and that was as silent as always.

“I’m glad you all returned safely,” the old man said. “Now that we're all present, I am able to happily announce that we are now able to escape from here.”

He turned to me.

“This young lady is in possession of the White Shard.”

Copycat said, "You mean... The pretty stone I found and gave to her? What's it do?"

Barry hopped.

“Apparently it can get us out of here," he said.

"Wait, really? Wow, I didn't know it was that important!"

"But... Can we really get out of here with that little thing?” Barry asked the old man.

“Yes," the man responded, "We —”

Just then, a loud, piercing blare emanated from the DS speakers, a noise that made my stomach drop.

It wasn’t just any noise…

It was a screech.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, like the neanderthal i am, i made red completely mute in this story, Deal


	15. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darkrai makes its ambitions known, and the group finally leaves the land between worlds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one of the shorter chapters  
note: see bottom notes for translations.

Everyone in the crowd looked around, a flurry of textboxes popping up once again.

“What…What was that?!”

“Did a weird car alarm go off?”

“It wasn’t me, I swear!”

“Let’s go see!” Barry exclaimed.

Barry dashed out of the cave first, and everyone else, including myself, followed him.

We walked all the way down the mountain, and in the center of the town, there was an overworld sprite of Palkia, the space-centric counterpart of Dialga, and mascot of _Pokémon Pearl_. It was quivering, its palette turning darker and darker.

“Wha... What is THAT?!” Blue asked.

Barry said, “That… That’s PALKIA! Something’s wrong with it!”

Next to Palkia and Dialga, another figure appeared… Darkrai.

“Hey!” someone said. “That’s the thing that stole my Pokémon!”

“Yeah, mine too!!” said someone else.

The old man said, “It has breached the light… How unfortunate.”

Darkrai said, “Cute, thinking that you could escape me.”

Just then, someone else walked down from the mountain… Silver, who’d finally exited the cave.

“What was that wretched noise…” he said.

He turned to Darkrai, and an exclamation point popped up above his head.

“That…” he said. “THAT! THAT’S the beast that stole my MEGANIUM!! GIVE IT BACK, YOU CRETIN!!”

Darkrai said, “Your seething anger, over a lower-class Pokémon… Laughable.”

“You listen here! Everyone else here might run and hide, but I REFUSE to let you get away with what you've done to me!”

Darkrai said, “You think what you wish. But with the beings of time and space at my wake…”

Another sprite appeared next to the black Palkia…

Dialga.

My Dialga.

“It’s got Dialga too?!” Barry exclaimed.

“I thought that it would be safe in your possession…” the old man said, facing me. “I should have known that Darkrai would only attack you for it… Forgive me.”

His words made me raise an eyebrow; apparently, somehow, the old man knew that I had Dialga in my _Diamond_ party, and he thought that it was well-hidden that way.

“Nothing,” Darkrai continued, “can go against DARKRAI at my control…”

“...Did...” Blue spoke up. “Did you just say ‘DARKRAI’ at my control? You’re referring to yourself like that now? Laaaaaaaame!”

Darkrai only went, “!!!”

Then, without another word, it faded away slowly, taking Dialga and Palkia with it, all three of them vanishing completely.

Silver said, “Humph… Cowardly thing...”

Gold turned to the others.

“Hey,” he said. “Did you all hear what DARKRAI said? It said ‘DARKRAI at my control’… What did it mean?”

“If it wasn’t for dramatic effect,” Blue said, turning towards Gold, “it might mean that DARKRAI isn’t doing all this on its own maybe?”

Brendan said, “Are... you saying that someone could be behind the scenes, controlling it, and they slipped up?”

"I know it sounds weird but, yeah."

Barry said, “I mean, that would explain why it just scurried off… But, who would even do that? How COULD anyone even do that?”

"I've got no idea, really..."

I asked myself the same question. Darkrai definitely wasn’t known for possession or aspirations of world domination (save for _Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky_, the second installments of _Pokémon Mystery Dungeon_, a spinoff series where all Pokémon behave exactly like humans), so it being forced to do so seemed like a sensible conclusion to draw. But, as Barry said...

> _Who could possibly have the ability, the mind, or the heart (or rather, the lack thereof), to do something like that?_

Suddenly, I began to glow with a mysterious white light. Everyone looked in my direction.

“Mister, what’s going on?” said the little girl who’d accompanied Red.

The elder walked up to me, and said, “It’s the White Shard! It is reacting to DARKRAI's presence!”

He turned to everyone.

“Everyone gather around, quickly!”

Everyone obeyed and crowded around me. The light grew brighter, followed by an enormous flash, turning the entire screen white. When the flash diminished, everyone had disappeared, myself included, leaving the town vacant. A text box appeared on the bottom of the screen.

“Voi e gli altri hanno fuoriuscito il mondo chiaro. Ora, realizzi il vostro dovere come salvatore…”

It had been a good while since I saw any Italian in the game, but, while still a bit off-putting, it didn’t bother me as much anymore.

The screen faded out once again, leaving a black screen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Voi e gli altri hanno fuoriuscito il mondo chiaro. Ora, realizzi il vostro dovere come salvatore.": "You and the others have escaped the light world. Now, you realize your duty as a savior.", something along those lines.


	16. Hearthome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group is transported to the empty streets of a city, but one member chooses to leave. (alternate summary: Silver Continues To Be A Disaster Child And Blue Says The A-Word Around A Small Child And No One Acknowledges It)

The screen remained black for about a minute, accompanied by a low buzzing noise, much like the beginning of the game; this time, I was more patient, less scared. Then, an image started to slowly fade in, becoming clearer and clearer until it became fully apparent. I, along with Red, Blue, Gold, Brendan, Barry, Silver, the nameless little girl, and the nameless old man were in what looked to be a city; one I could actually recognize.

“So…” Gold asked. “Anyone know where we are now?”

“Beats me,” said Blue. “It's not ringing any bells. Are we out of the bizarro alternate dimension joint, at least?”

“We’d better be,” Silver said. “If I had to spend one more second in that miserable place...”

Red merely went, “…………”

Barry walked a step ahead and looked around a little. Then, an exclamation point showed up above his head, and he faced us.

“This is… Hearthome City!” he exclaimed.

Brendan said, “…Where?”

“You know, Hearthome City, city of contests and home of the Amity Square and the Hearthome Gym!”

Barry turned around once more and looked around again.

“But… It’s usually way more bustling than this…”

“Hey, Barry,” Blue said, taking a step toward Barry, “Is this the ‘Sinnoh’ place you were talking about earlier?”

Barry answered, “Yep, it is! Right, sir?”

“Yes…” the elder said, “Sigh, I remember this city way back when, when it was remarkably tiny… My my, has this place changed.”

“Whatever. I don’t care WHERE we are,” Silver said. “I just want my Pokémon back, not to waste time in this dump.”

Barry dashed over to Silver.

“Look, punk,” he said, “Sinnoh has some of the most extraordinary landmarks and Pokémon in the world, so show some respect, will ya?”

“Humph, what rude people you Sinnohians are…”

“You’re calling ME rude?!”

The elderly man said, “That’s enough, you two. We don’t have time for this.”

Silver walked in front of the group.

“You know what? You’re right. I DON’T have time for this,” he said.

Blue walked a step forward toward Silver, and said, “Wait! What are you plotting?”

“Heh… I’m going off to find DARKRAI myself, and dispose of it.”

“Dispose of it? You mean…” Gold asked.

“Yes. Destroy it.”

The elder walked towards Silver as well.

“We cannot, we shouldn’t, boy. It may or may not be controlled by an outside source, and we’d be punishing the wrong being if that’s the case. And I understand that it’s very hard right now, but please try to remember, it’s still a living breathing creature, in many senses, and so doing away with it should be an absolute last resort. Besides, even all of us together would be no match for it, and I don't want anything to happen to you.”

Silver was silent for a second, and then spoke up again.

“...Don't father me."

He faced away from everyone.

"I'm not a small child. I'm very aware that it's alive, I just don’t care. It gleefully tortured my Pokémon, made it suffer , and had the gall to mock me as I was vulnerable; I don't owe it anything. Whether it’s ‘being controlled by someone’ or not… It doesn't matter. I saw _it_, and only _it_, and that's all I care to know. It… It has to suffer the way my — no, the way thousands of others' Pokémon have suffered at its hands. It just has to."

He faced us again.

“After all, what good is a creature that only exists to inflict nightmares and nothing more?”

“Silver…” Brendan started, but then stayed quiet.

Red went, “…………”

Silver continued, looking away once more. “You know what I say is true; if we don't get rid of this thing, this will just happen again, and again, and again, until there's nothing left and our world is as barren as the place we just came from. Surely you already know that, even you lot aren't that stupid. That thing kidnapped your Pokémon too; you were all forced to see your partners in pain, just like I was, but not only are you siding with it, you seem to take pity on that creature, something I just can’t understand…”

He looked away again, walking a step away from us.

“…Why do I continue wasting my breath on the likes of you? You'll only continue to go against me — even if your Pokémon perish at that creature's watch, you’ll most likely continue to sympathize with it and paint me as the bad guy, because that's apparently the kind of people you are. But, you know what? Do whatever you want. Start your very own fan club for it. I couldn’t care less.”

He took another step before saying, “Don’t you dare look for me.”

With that, he walked away up the western road, vanishing offscreen.

“...Ugh,” Blue said. “I can’t believe that asshole just left us like that…”

“That meanie…” the little girl said.

“The guy still has all bark and barely any bite,” Gold said, “I've seen him act like that since the first five seconds I met him.”

“Figures,” said Barry. "And also, none of us said anything about siding with DARKRAI, so I don't know what he's going on about."

Brendan said, “He talks about getting rid of DARKRAI, he won’t get one foot towards it.”

“……Now, now. Let’s not be so hard on the boy,” sent the old man

Blue said, “Old-timer, the guy is beyond bigheaded, even more bigheaded than I was as a kid, and that’s saying something. He only cares about himself… We can’t go easy on him, even if we tried.”

“I absolutely see where you’re coming from,” the elder said, “but we must remember; he also had his Pokémon, his friend, taken from him, as you did. But, unlike you all, his fury undermined his anxiety and confusion, and he bears a vicious grudge against the DARKAI that he saw hurt his companion, a very reasonable and very human response. He is obviously deeply traumatized by the whole ordeal, and we must at the very least understand that.”

“Oh…” the young girl said. “So, he’s not saying that stuff to be mean, he’s saying it because he’s sad and scared?”

“Correct.”

"To be honest with you, from what little I know of his background, Silver... hasn't exactly had what we'd call a good life," Gold said. "As insufferably surly as he's always been, I can't say it's all his fault."

Blue said, “...Maybe you’re right... But he’s still a jerk in my eyes.”

Barry said, “Let’s not ramble about him too much, it’ll get us nowhere. Let’s just leave him alone until he decides to come crawling back.”

The little girl said, “Let’s just look for a way to get things back to normal!”

Red looked at the little girl and went, “…………………”

“Indeed,” the elder said. “Let us go find the source of DARKRAI’s tyranny. Let’s start with the west road, where Silver took off through. I’m familiar with it.”

He walked away, and everyone followed him.

The entire time, I could only think about not only Silver’s words, but the words of the diary I’d found earlier, where the writer talked about not being able to forgive Darkrai for their own sake; a sentiment that Silver clearly shared.

> _Is it really necessary to punish Darkrai so severely for this? _
> 
> _Should we show mercy… or not? _
> 
> _If it does come to its senses, should we forgive it… or not? _
> 
> _And… What good IS a creature that only lives to give nightmares that no one wants or asks for? _

The whole ordeal plagued my thoughts as the screen faded out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not really related (ok, maybe related.) but God i love silver


	17. Generations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trainers learn a bit more about their nameless company, and a little about one another as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (note: this is where theres a bit more not-quite-plot-related conversation amongst characters going on than normal, but the plot does still move forward in this chapter!)

The screen faded back in, and we were on route 208.

It appeared the same as usual — a large patch of wild Pokémon grass, one of those “honey trees” that attracted Pokémon if you put special honey on it, and the Berry Master’s house was to the north. His garden was empty, though.

“Hey,” Barry said, “there’s the Berry guy’s house…”

He walked up to the door.

“…It's barred up. Even the good old Berry Master is bummed by this…”

Brendan said, “Sinnoh has a 'berry master'? Huh, Hoenn does too.”

“Oh, does it?”

Then, seemingly not taking anymore notice to what Brendan said, Barry appeared to notice something regarding the door.

“What’s this…?” he said.

“It appears to be a… faded note on the door? It says… Hey, can anyone read this?”

Blue walked up to the door, Barry moving out of the way for him.

“It so faded I can barely make out anything,” Blue said. “But I think it says… 'La casa delle… bacche?' What is this? Italian? I probably just butchered it...”

The language had returned, and I could now confirm it to be Italian, but this time, I wasn’t the only one seeing it. The fact that Italy apparently existed in a _Pokémon_ game didn’t surprise or confuse me too much, though. Lt. Surge, a gym leader from RBY, was explicitly stated to be an American war veteran (additionally, Russia and South America were also directly referred to in the same Generation) and Fantina, the gym leader of Hearthome City, periodically spoke French. On top of that, languages from real-world countries were often referenced throughout the series as a whole.

The elder walked over to the two, who made way for him.

“Yes, it is Italian…” he said. “And I can decipher it. It reads out, ‘The house of berries.’”

He turned to the group.

“It’s a very old sign…” he said. “It was written when the master was younger…”

He looked back at the house.

“I should know,” he said. “I wrote it for him.”

“I see,” Gold said. “So, you speak Italian?”

The elder turned to us. “Yes, I do.”

The little girl hopped a little and said, “Yeah! I know! He always spoke some when he was with my mommy and daddy!”

The elder said, “She's correct. I am of Italian descent, you see.”

Red went, “!”

“You’re Italian? That’s pretty neat,” Brendan said. "I've never been there myself."

“Yes, it’s true,” the man continued. “My mother and father were Italian, as were my grandparents. I moved here when I was quite small, and I’ve lived here ever since.”

Barry asked, “Do ya like it here?”

“Certainly. This is a wonderful region with many intriguing and enthralling tales behind it, as well as amazing Pokémon and kindhearted people. But, sometimes, I find myself nostalgic for my homeland, which is why I used to find myself speaking Italian, as I grew up here. The people of Sinnoh were enchanted by my language, as it was brand new to them, and when I grew older, small groups of young people would meet with me to attempt to learn my language. There would be groups of different people every time…”

Brendan asked, “Did it ever get overwhelming? You know, with all those people wanting to learn that language at once?”

“Not at all. I was more than happy to teach people my native tongue. But, people soon learned all there was to learn… Fewer and fewer people came to me for lessons… Until no one came anymore. I grew very lonely.”

Blue said, “So, how do you know the... Berry Master, was it?”

The man responded, “He was the very first person who greeted me when I came to Sinnoh, and he was around five years old at the time, merely a tad younger than I was. Since that young age, he was always mesmerized by the pleasing shapes and bright hues of the region’s berries. By age fifteen, he had learned the names of every type of berry in this world. As he reached adulthood, he became a traveler and spent the majority of his life going to each region, even meeting others like him, who also shared his interest in the fruits. However, he, as I have, grew old, yet satisfied with his findings, and he decided to return to Sinnoh and stay here for the remainder of his life. He had a small home built here, giving away his enormous berry collection to wandering trainers such as yourselves, as he knew they'd go to good use. With his permission, I wrote ‘The House of the Berry Master’ in my native tongue on his door so he would remember me, which he did, for decades. But that was so long ago that, naturally, the writing is nearly gone, and a sign has been placed to mark his house.”

“What did you do afterward?” Gold asked. “After the whole teaching Italian, I mean?”

“He got hired by mommy and daddy!” The little girl jumped in. “He worked for them!”

“Oh?” Barry said. “And where’s your hometown? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you anywhere…”

“In a forest!” This surprised me and more than likely everyone else as well. Red even went, “…!”

“A forest?!” Barry said. “Kid, it’s dangerous living in places like that. There’re all sorts of dangerous Pokémon and shady characters running around!”

The little girl said, “Well, nothing happened to us, nothing at all! I even kept living there after mommy and daddy got sick and......."

She paused.

"...Left me.”

Red went, “………………………”

“Left you? As in... they died?” Brendan said.

"...Yeah."

“Oh geez, I’m so sorry…” Gold said.

“Aw, that’s a downer,” Blue said. “Are you doing alright?”

“I was very sad… I didn’t know what to do…” she said. “But, this nice man with us said he would take care of me! So he did....”

“Yes,” the elder said. “But, we have chatted enough, young ones. We must move forward.”

He walked a step ahead. “Follow me.”

He walked away, the young girl dashing after him; we all followed him as well.

Farther in route 208, there was a rocky mountain, split into two parts that were both divided by a small stream and a single waterfall and linked together by three wooden bridges — in other words, all appeared to be as it should have. There were usually hikers and other trainers here, however, but they were absent; the area was empty, just like everywhere else in Sinnoh probably was. We all kept going until we stopped at a small entrance at the end of the bridge going left.

“This,” Barry explained to the others, “is the way to Mt. Coronet.”

“Mt… ‘Coronet’?” Blue asked. “Is that anything like Mt. Moon?”

“It depends,” Barry said. “If the peak of Mt. Moon holds the power of time and space, then yep. I'm guessing it does, since... Ya know, 'Moon'.”

“What? No WAY!” Blue said. “The only thing worth talking about in Mt. Moon is the plague of ZUBAT leaving in it and the spot where a bunch of CLEFAIRY get together sometimes! The CLEFAIRY are nice to watch, though, so I can’t complain.”

I remembered Mt. Moon, and everything Blue said was very accurate. In _Pokémon Red_ and the remakes, it took me ages to travel through it to get to Cerulean City, as I hadn't thought to bring Repels. The thing I remember the most about it was seeing THIS on the bottom of the screen:

_“Wild ZUBAT appeared!”_

Every two steps.

_“Wild ZUBAT appeared!”_

_“Wild ZUBAT appeared!”_

_“Wild ZUBAT appeared!”_

_“Wild ZUBAT appeared!”_

It's a miracle that I hadn't thrown my Gameboy at a wall and broken it. As annoying as it was, though, It still made me nostalgic. I also remembered the Clefairy in GSC — they would come out and dance every Monday evening and would run away when I came around, leaving a Moon Stone behind. Even if it was a bit tedious to wait for, I still loved it. And then, there was Mt. Coronet… I remembered it probably the most vividly. It was MUCH larger than Mt. Moon, being riddled with waterfalls and rocky slopes. And, despite being invaded with Zubat as well, it was far more interesting to me, having actual canon mythology and lore behind it. I remembered battling and defeating Team Galactic...

> _And catching Dialgi there._

“What’s the deal with this mountain, anyway?” Blue asked.

“Mt. Coronet,” Barry started, “splits this region in half. There’s an east side and a west side; at least, that’s what I read in a book in the Canalave Library. It’s pretty big. I swear it’s even bigger on the inside though; it has giant slopes, massive rocks galore, waterfalls, and plus it snows like crazy near the peak.”

“This place has waterfalls and never-ending snow too?” Gold asked. “So does Mt. Silver in Johto... Or, NEAR Johto I should say; it’s in the middle of Kanto and Johto.”

“Oh? What’s that like?” Barry asked.

“Nothing much, really… It’s got waterfalls, and maybe you’ll see MOLTRES fly by if you’re really lucky… And plus, they’ll only let you near it if you have sixteen badges.”

“Sixteen?! Yikes, Sinnoh only has eight!”

“No, no, you’ve got it confused,” Gold explained. “I had to get eight back in Johto, and get another eight when I traveled to Kanto.”

“Oh… I get it.”

“Yep. And when I got to the top of the mountain, I met…” Gold turned around to Red. “…Red here. We had a pretty intense battle... I managed to win, but boy, his Pokémon sure were tough.”

Red went, “…”

“Heh, I see. But, back on the subject,” Barry said. “Here, Team Galactic had their plans set into motion.”

“’Team Galactic’?" said Blue. "The neighborhood scumbags, I’m guessing? Like the Rockets back home?”

“Or like Team Magma, and Team Aqua?” Brendan said.

“Well,” Barry continued, “Team Galactic, or more accurately, their boss, Cyrus, wanted to use DIALGA, the Pokémon that controls time, and PALKIA, the Pokémon that controls space, to destroy the universe and create one of his own and become like… a god, or something like that. I didn’t really understand half of his babbling, if we’re being totally honest.”

“Hey, wait,” Brendan asked, “aren’t those the two giant Pokémon that we saw DARKRAI make off with?”

“Yeah. Cyrus was so close to achieving his goal, too close. But, ???...”

He walked next to me.

“…And I defeated his two commanders together, and she defeated Cyrus on her own!”

“Huh, pretty impressive!” Blue said.

“Yeah, great job!” Gold said.

“Cyrus ran off after that…” Barry continued, “and no one's seen him since. I admit, sometimes I wonder where he went…”

Just then, there was offscreen shouting, indicated by textboxes.

“How curious…”

“What happened in here, mister?”

I knew it was the old man and the little girl. During all our small talk, they'd snuck a peek in the cave.

“Let’s head in with 'em” Blue said, and we all complied.


	18. The guard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally finding the correct path, and engaging in a familiar kind of battle.

I was taken aback by the sight of the cavern when we went in. I expected rocky ledges, water, and boulders… but they weren’t there. Not at all.

> _...Why am I still expecting normality out of this game? _
> 
> _Throughout this entire playthrough, nothing’s been normal. _

The area was flat and barren; no rocks, no water, no ledges, nothing typical of a cave in a Pokémon game, and nothing like Mt. Coronet was supposed to be. It was one giant room.

“What’s up?” Brendan asked the elder. “Is this mountain usually not like this?”

“No,” the man answered, “it’s never been this barren.”

“I don’t remember Mt. Coronet looking like this… What happened?” The girl asked.

“I’ve no idea…”

Just then, I heard a buzzing noise; it was very much like the one I’d heard at the very start of the game, but louder and more amplified, making it sound like it was coming from somewhere in my room.

“You guys hear that?” Barry asked.

“It’s coming from what appears to be a… door of some kind?” Gold said.

There was, indeed, a metallic door in the center of the cave’s back wall. Everyone else stood still, saying and doing nothing. After about ten seconds of waiting, I eventually realized that, for the first time in quite a good while, I was in full control of my character, and was free to go investigate on my own. I walked over to the entrance — it was perfectly square-shaped, and a slightly bronze color and was quivering in sync with the buzzing noise, and had a small opening in the front of it. I tried entering it, but I only received the following message:

“The opening is too small to enter, but it seems as though it could be melted…”

Just then, everyone else walked to the base with me.

“Hey, what’s this? You got any idea?” Blue asked. I turned around and faced him automatically, presumingly answering him even though I saw no text.

“… The opening’s too small?”

“Well, that’s a problem,” Barry said. “Now what are we supposed to do?”

The old man walked to the opening, and examined it for a moment.

“… The metal… It is able to be melted, I believe,” he said.

“It is?” Gold asked.

“Yes. A powerful wave of fire should be able to melt it, and make it wider, and thus accessible. Do any of you happen to possess a CHARIZARD?”

“A CHARIZARD, specifically?” Barry asked.

“Yes… CHARIZARD’s flame has the ability to melt glaciers, so melting metal should be a simple task.”

Everyone was silent for a moment, including Red. I knew he was always silent, but I remember him having a Charizard in my battle with him at Mt. Silver.

> _Can’t he just send his out?_

“Red here,” Gold eventually said, “had a CHARIZARD. It was a tough one, too. But, it was stolen by DARKRAI, along with his PIKACHU.”

“Oh, dear… You had two Pokémon stolen from you at once?” The elder said.

“Well,” Gold said, “DARKRAI didn’t plan to…”

Suddenly, the screen grew lighter and lighter until it was fully white, but it didn’t stay that way for very long before an image faded in. It was in black and white, and it showed Red and Gold at New Moon Island facing Darkrai, who had a Pikachu and a Typhlosion next to it, each with blackened fur and red eyes. This was a flashback, I soon understood, the monochrome colors being similar to the flashbacks in FRLG that showed when you first loaded up a save file.

“…!!!” Red had said in the flashback.

“Pathetic,” Darkrai said.

“I don't know who or what you are, but give him back his PIKACHU!” said Gold. “And while you’re at it, give me back my TYPHLOSION!”

“I’m quite sorry to disappoint you, but I can’t do that. Not for either of you.”

“… …!”

“Red, what…. What’s your CHARIZARD…?”

It showed Charizard’s overworld sprite “jumping” out of Red’s bag — out of its Pokéball, likely sensing danger.

“CHARIZARD… What are you doing?!” Gold exclaimed, speaking for his silent partner. The Charizard proceeded to lunge toward Darkrai.

“No, wait, STOP!”

But it was already was too late; the Charizard was halted, and the awful screeches began, until its hide turned black, its eyes a bloody red.

“How cute,” Darkrai said.

“……………………” Red went.

“You…you…!” said Gold.

Then, exclamation points popping up above both of their heads, the two teleported; they were going to Purezza.

“Good bye, we’ll meet again soon,” Darkrai said.

The screen turned bright again, and faded back into the scene on Mt. Coronet.

“I see…” the elder said. “So you also got your CHARIZARD stolen because it tried to save PIKACHU. Such a shame.”

“Yeah…” Brendan said.

Red went, “………”

“Well,” Blue said, “I don’t have a CHARIZARD with me… The only Fire-type I’ve got’s my ARCANINE. How ‘bout you all?”

“Nope, not me!” Barry said.

“Me neither…” Brendan said.

"Well," said the old man, "I suppose we'll have to make due wi—"

Just then, I heard the ingame cry of a Charizard. Everyone else in the game apparently did too, all of them looking this way and that.

“You all hear that?” Blue said.

“I did...!” the elder said.

Just then, a Charizard appeared in front of me — Flamewing. After we got out of Purezza, it must have retreated into its Pokéball, which explained why it wasn’t walking next to me anymore. It walked up to the opening, emitted another cry, and a text box appeared.

“FLAMEWING used Flamethrower on the door!”

I watched as the opening grew larger. It stopped growing, and Flamewing walked over to me and disappeared — going back into its Pokéball.

“Yo, nice work, kiddo!” Blue said.

“When’d you get a CHARIZARD anyway? It’s awesome!” Barry said.

“Alright, now that it’s open,” Gold said, “let’s go in.”

I watched as each of them go in one at a time, leaving me to go in last.

The inside of the base seemed larger than the outside of it; however, this wasn’t a surprise, not even by this game’s standards, for Pokémon games had a habit of making the interiors of buildings seem larger than the exterior of them. The inside was odd; it was unlike anything I’d seen in a Pokémon game. The floors were a tinted bronze-like material; kind of like the melted door. It was shiny; my and everyone else’s reflections were so clear, almost matching the quality of our normal sprites. But the reflections were even stranger; they were all distorted, like we were standing on some bizarre funhouse mirror.

“Hey, check it out!” Blue said, facing his reflection. “My reflection… It’s all weird!”

“Mine too!” said Barry. “What’s going on? Where is this?”

The elder looked around for a couple of seconds, and said, “I believe we are in a… facility of some sort, it looks like?”

The young girl was obviously enthralled by her surroundings, as she was walking back and forth. She said, “Wow! Look at the pretty floor!”

The elder turned to the little girl and said, “Yes, it is rather mesmerizing…”

“Hey guys!” Barry said. “Check that out!” He was facing upward, and everyone walked further in his direction, and an exclamation point popped up above Blue’s head.

“That…” he said.

The thing Barry had noticed was a statue, and not just any statue. It was the one I’d seen many times; the one I saw in gyms, the one I saw, and battled, in the Old Chateau earlier in the game.

“So,” said Blue. “What’s this all about? I mean, I know it’s a statue, but, why's it here?”

“I have no idea, and I’ve seen these before too, they’re everywhere in Hoenn…” said Brendan.

“……” went Red.

“Hey,” Gold stepped in.”It says something! But, I think it’s in Italian again…”

Barry asked, “Hm? What’s it say?”

“Questa statua… Non è… quella ordinaria deve sconfiggerla… per aprire…”

“Yo, old-timer,” Blue turned to the elder. “You can read this, right?”

“Yes, I can,” the elder said, and they made the way for him.

“It reads,” the elder said, “‘This statue… it is not ordinary… one must defeat it… to open the… ……”

“Open the… what?” Gold asked.

“I fear that I cannot answer that,” the man said, “for the rest is blank.”

“Darn it!” Barry exclaimed. “Leave it to the people of Sinnoh to never finish their sentences…”

“No, my child,” the man said, “it was indeed finished… but the words were etched out by… someone.”

“Oh,” Barry said. “Weird...”

“So, what this thing is saying,” said Blue, “is that this is no regular old statue, and that we have to defeat it or something?”

“Yes,” the old man replied.

“That’s what it sounds like.”

“But how the hell can we DEFEAT it? I mean, it’s a freaking inanimate object…”

Blue was cut off when the statue began to quiver, gently, but noticeably.

“What the…” Gold said.

It began to tremble harder and more violently, until it shot upward offscreen with a snap.

“What… just happened?” went Barry.

“If I’m not mistaken,” Blue said, “I think that statue just flew up in the air.”

“No kidding!”

Just then, the statue flew right back down — towards me.

“???, WATCH OUT!!!!” Barry exclaimed. But I couldn’t move out of the way, and it collided head-on with me. The screen flashed; a battle was starting. I was fully expecting a Charizard to appear, because the last time I “encountered” a statue, that’s what Pokémon it was, and I had naively figured that all Pokémon statues were indeed all of Charizard. But then —

“Wild ________ appeared!”

The screen showed a Salamence rather than a Charizard. Not unlike the Charizard statue, the Salamence was an edit of Salamence's _Diamond_ and _Pearl_ sprite, it was colored gray like a traditional statue, and its cry was high pitched and distorted. 

However, this one was edited far more heavily — it was made far more obvious that it was a statue. Its visible eye was lower on its misshapen face than it usually was, and had a large crack going down the middle of it, making it look like a huge scar. It was missing its right wing, leaving a broken and sharp stub. All four of its fangs were gone, and there was sort of a greenish gunk all over its legs, which I’d guessed was moss. This all caught me off guard — the Charizard statue back in the Chateau was pretty much only a gray Charizard with very few differences, but this one was a ragged statue inside and out, even lacking an animation. It had no level, nor did it have a gender.

“??? sent out FLAMEWING!”

As the battle started, I was offered the traditional battle options. I selected “ATTACK”. Flamewing had the same attacks that I had left it with; Flamethrower, Submission, Body Slam, and Strength. I made the first move, selecting Flamethrower. The battle animation ensued, and the statue took little damage.

“It’s not very effective…”

I could have sworn that it had melted a little, having rather wavy textures on its rotting legs.

It made the next move.

“The wild STATUE used ______!”

Tiny stone parts of the statue rose up from its body and fired themselves at Flamewing. It didn’t do too much damage, but I’d never seen anything like it before. I watched as a little bit of HP was drained from the statue, meaning that it had hurt itself in recoil. It was my turn; I chose the attack Strength.

This one did a little more damage than the last attack. The left, unmarked wing began cracking, and an animation of it breaking off played. Its HP dropped to what I like to call the “yellow zone”, meaning it was more than half-empty.

Its next move was Rock Tomb — this was super effective since Flamewing was a Fire/Flying type, but because of its considerably high level, it took little damage. While the attack animation was going on, I noticed that the rocks were grey, matching the color of the statue, and were coated with green moss. It was then that I noticed the statue’s legs… they were incredibly damaged, and its HP dropped once more.

It was my turn; I chose Body Slam, and the Salamence’s HP reached the “red zone”, meaning that its HP was nearly all gone — then, that one exasperating beeping noise began, the one that usually only happened when the player's Pokémon were on the brink of defeat, never the opponents.

The Salamence’s next move was Grudge. This meant that the next move I used might lose all its PP, but I didn’t care; I had plenty of moves left, and it was nearly defeated.

After that, I chose Submission, and this did a devastating amount of damage, Flamewing’s HP dropping from recoil, stopping just before its HP hit the red zone.

“It’s super effective!”

The statue’s HP dropped to zero.

The next thing that happened made my stomach turn. The statue began to crack; there was even an all-too-clear sound effect to go along with it. Moments later, it had fallen completely apart, only its destroyed head left onscreen.

“________ has crumbled!”

My Charizard didn’t gain any experience, but I didn’t think it would, considering the fact that it just fought a statue and not an actual Pokémon. The battle scene faded out, and I saw my group again. The statue was, as predicted, no longer present.

“Wow… For a fight with a statue, that was pretty intense!” Brendan said.

“Radical job, as usual!” Barry said.

“So, now that the statue is gone,” Blue said, facing the place where the statue originally had been standing, “isn’t the way supposed to…”

The screen then began to shake.

“Ahhh, a quake!” the young girl said.

Then, while the screen was shaking, a hole opened in the wall slowly.

“Oh!” the girl exclaimed. “This must be the way!”

“Alright!” said Gold. “Let’s go!”

Each person went in, and I, once again, was the last to enter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "but, why a charizard specifically" bc i wanted an excuse for the flashback basically lol 
> 
> also because Charizard Good


	19. Distortion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trainers wander the torn world, and an ex-member rejoins the group.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> notes: see the bottom notes for translations.

The screen was dark for a moment. I sat patiently, waiting for something to happen.

Then, after a minute, a text box appeared on the bottom of the screen.

“Siete venuto lontano… Andare di conservazione… e non osi danno in su.”

This was directed at the real-world me, so no one else could see it, and I was unable to receive a translation ingame.

The text box vanished, and the next scene came in, everyone in a completely different place. I could not recognize where the scene was at first, until I examined it further. In the background, there appeared to be a swirling vortex of different hues of purple, large floating square-shaped rocks everywhere, and on some of the rocks, plant-like objects stood. I immediately understood that this was the Distortion World, a place usually only available in _Pokémon Platinum_, and true home of Giratina.

“Woah, check this place out,” Blue said. “It’s so tripped out…”

“No way…” Barry said. “Is this the Distortion World? I’ve heard all sorts of rumors about it, but I didn’t think it was actually real…”

“Yes…” the elder said. “It appears that we are indeed in the Distortion World, where our reality and the alternate reality clash, and the domain of the great GIRATINA…”

“I know this place!” the girl said. “You told me about it, mister! It’s even weirder than I thought…”

“So, now that we’re here,” Gold said, “what do we do next?”

Everyone stood quiet for a few seconds, until Red went, “…!”

Blue turned to Red, and asked, “Huh? Something up, Red?”

Blue looked ahead, and also went “!” After that, everyone else looked ahead as well.

“Wait…” Gold said. “Could it be…?”

He walked ahead until he was out of sight.

“It is…” he said. “Hey, guys! Come here!”

We all walked over to where he was, finding him standing next to what appeared to be someone lying on the ground, someone with red hair and a black shirt…

> _...Silver._

“Hold up…” Blue said. “Isn’t this the guy who ditched us back in Hearthome?”

“Uh-oh… What happened?” the girl asked.

“Five bucks says DARKRAI took him out,” Barry said.

“I told ya he wouldn’t even come in inch towards it,” Brendan said.

“Now, now,” the old man said. “Don’t chastise the boy, especially not while he’s down. Let’s try to help him.”

“’Gotcha, Sir,” Gold said. His sprite then nudged against Silver’s.

“Hey, Silver, can you hear me? Earth to Silver…”

He gave Silver one last giant shove, hinted by how hard Silver’s sprite shook.

“SILVER, IT’S ME! GET UP!”

“Oof, ugh…” Silver went, shivering a little before getting back up on his feet. “Wha… wha…?”

He looked around at us, and an exclamation point showed up above his head.

“You all… What are you doing here?! Didn’t I tell you NOT to look for me?!”

“Don't flatter yourself, punk,” Barry said. “We weren’t looking for YOU, we were looking for DARKRAI, so chill out.”

“Tell us what happened, boy,” the elder said.

“… I wasted half my time getting that weird statue thing out of my way…” Silver said. I then realized why the statue had been so damaged and cracked; Silver had gotten to it first, and had weakened it enough to bypass it without completely destroying it.

“…And I wound up here,” he continued. “What kind of hellhole have I even stumbled into, anyway? Then, I saw it… That thing. My Pokémon and I jumped into action, but it wiped us out before we could land a single hit… Damn, that thing packs a punch.”

The old man asked, “Did any of your Pokémon get taken?”

“No, shockingly enough…”

“Ah, thank heavens… Did you see where DARKRAI went?”

“Of course not! I didn’t see anything, I was blacked out!”

“Understood. At the very least, we know that we are in its current location.” The elder faced me. “Young one; you go on ahead without us for now. Because of your feats in the past, you should have no problem finding information. Is this fine?

>Yes

No”

> _No. _
> 
> _It’s not fine. _
> 
> _I don’t want to be alone, even if this is just game, even if it is just a hack. _
> 
> _But… I know must accept. _

I selected “Yes”.

Barry walked over to me, and said, “Please, don't do anything dumb… You're my friend, I don’t wanna lose you, OK?”

Then, as soon as I had control, I walked ahead of everyone.

Soon, they were all offscreen and I was away from the group.

Just as I was at the beginning of the game, I was all alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Siete venuto lontano… Andare di conservazione… e non osi danno in su.": "You've come a long way... Keep going... and you don't dare give up."


	20. Red future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief reunion, both in person and in memory. (alternate summary: Silver Very Nearly Drops An F-Bomb)

The place was as bizarre as I remembered it being, with its climbable waterfalls, the eldritch “plants” that rose and grew depending on one’s position near them. There were a few differences in the mod, however; for example, the already haunting soundtrack was reversed, and the spiraling “warp” backdrop was completely unmoving. I kept walking and walking, the reverse music getting louder, myself growing increasingly uneasy.

> _Is something going to happen soon? _

I came across a bridge-like structure, constructed of a row the world’s smaller rocks between two of the bigger ones, and I walked across it.

When I reached the end… I got a big surprise. Not a surprise like I’d been receiving on the regular, but a much, much bigger one.

There was someone there. One last familiar face.

> _Could... Could it be..._

Before I could even fully come to terms with who he was, he began to speak.

“…I’m finally succeeding. I failed a long time ago, when I’d been weighed down by a hoard of bumbling, useless, incompetent henchman… But, alone, I have achieved so much more. If the power of DIALGA and PALKIA cannot be harvested by my own hand… Then the hand of a being greater than I surely can.”

He looked around, facing me directly.

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

He walked over to me. “If you know what’s good for you, you'll move aside.”

“???” moved on her own without my control, and he walked past me, but paused just before he headed offscreen.

“You’ve come quite a long way, and I commend you for that,” he told me. “But all of your efforts were always going to be in vain. I almost pity you.”

He faced me.

"Almost."

He then walked offscreen completely.

The man… He was no ordinary NPC. He was none other than Cyrus, the former leader of the now-defunct Team Galactic. I remembered… In _Platinum_, after being defeated, he remained in the Distortion World to try to create his new world, and as it turned out, he was apparently still there, still alive, still ambitious. Based on his dialogue, it appeared that he did in fact have something to do with Darkrai’s current rampage.

> _But, how? _

“There she is, right there!”

Blue walked over to me, bringing everyone else with him.

“Phew, you’re safe,” Brendan said. “Did you find anything?

...

...‘Cyrus’?”

“’Cyrus’?” Silver said. “Who the f…”

“Hold on,” Gold said. “Was Barry talking about him earlier?”

“WHAT?” Barry said. “You saw CYRUS here?! But… why? How?”

The little girl went, “…”

“Hm?” Gold said. “Something bugging you, kid?”

“No,” the child said. “I just… I feel like I heard that name before…”

Then, the screen faded, but it soon faded in again, to some sort of black and white image…

> _Another flashback? _

The image showed what seemed to be two NPCs in a large room, a man and a woman, and Cyrus in front of them in what seemed to be a suit. 

“Welcome, Cyrus. We’re very pleased to have you joining us,” the man said.

“My pleasure,” said Cyrus.

“Do sit down, darling, make yourself at home,” the woman said.

The screen faded out, and returned to the Distortion World.

“Oh, I remember now!” the girl said. “Mommy and daddy were friends of his, and invited them for dinner!”

“Wait, so you actually know Cyrus?” Barry asked. asked.

“Yup!”

“Where’d you see him?” Blue asked me.

“Lead us,” Silver commanded.

Again, my character moved on her own, leading the others to the rocky bridge. The screen went black for a few seconds, and when it came back, everyone was in front of the bridge I'd been to.

“So, he was here, huh?” Blue asked.

“Did he say anything? I mean… Did he talk to you?” Barry asked. “…What? He said something about taking control of this universe since he failed at making his own? That doesn’t sound good. Did he say anything about DARKRAI?

>Yes

No”

I chose “Yes”, because even though he hadn’t mentioned Darkrai by name, it was clear he was referring to it.

“No way… Do you think that he…”

“So, sir,” Gold said. “Do you think that he has something to do with all of this?”

“Quite possibly," the elder responded. "But how, exactly, I know not."

“Blah blah blah!” Silver said. “What, are we gonna stay here all day asking questions and playing guessing games?” He walked over to me. “Where’d he go? Don’t say you don’t know, because you already told us you saw him.”

After a second, my character presumingly answering him, he turned facing north.

“’Up there’? Humph, what FANTASTIC information. We’ll sure get far with it in a place like this!”

“Alright, listen,” Blue said to Silver, “I get that you aren’t happy about what happened to your Pokémon, we aren’t either, but lighten up. We have to keep moving forward, and we have to do it together; standing around being angry and pushing your allies away won’t accomplish anything, and it definitely won’t bring your Pokémon back. Understand?”

“Let’s just head in the direction that ??? said he went, keep our heads up high, and hope for the best,” Barry said. “That’s all we can do now!”

“…Fine,” said Silver. "Let's go."

With that, we all headed north.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're Finally Getting To The Grit Of This Thing... Woooo


	21. The army

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The being of darkness is finally confronted, as is its puppeteer.

We went higher and higher, in search for him, the scenery refusing to be anything other than floating rocks and a purple background, no one speaking. Only when the little girl spoke was the ingame silence broken.

“Mister…” she said.

“Hm?” The old man answered. “What is it, child?”

“That man, Cyrus… I think you remember him, too.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah! You were there with me when mommy and daddy first showed him to us…”

The screen faded, leading to another flashback. This time, the two adults, whom I now guessed were the young girl’s mother and father, and Cyrus were facing the old man and the little girl in the same large room.

“I’d like to introduce you both to Mr. Cyrus,” said the father.

“Good afternoon,” Cyrus said.

“Hi there, Sir! Nice to meet you!” said the young girl.

“Yes,” said the old man, “I’ll be happy to serve your wares.” “

Thank you, you are all very kind.”

The screen went back to the present.

“Oh!” the old man said. “Now that you mention it, I do remember… But, that was a long time ago, when Cyrus was younger; a late teenager, if I remember correctly.”

“Yeah, I guess so…”

“Look, guys!” Gold said. “What’s that?”

The two were broken from their thoughts, and the elder said, “What is it? Did you find something?”

Gold paused, and turned to the group. “Over here! There’s some sort of machine…”

We all crowded around the object in question. On the very edge of a rocky path, there was a small contraption standing in the center of the platform on the end of the path. Its egg-shaped form was the same color and texture as the floating rocks around us, and the center was flashing on and off with a dazzling yellow light.

“What is this thing?” Brendan asked. “Does anyone have any ideas?”

“Whatever it is, it looks like bad news,” Silver said. “I say we put it out of commission while no one’s around to guard it.”

“I dunno if that’s a good idea…” Barry said. “I mean, we don’t even know what this thing is, and for all we know, it could either be something important that could help us or it could be an explosive…”

“So, I see that you all got past the guardian I built,” someone offscreen said. “I’m impressed.”

Everyone turned their attention away from the machine, and we found ourselves face-to-face with Cyrus as he walked towards us. 

"You… Cyrus, I’m guessing?” Gold asked.

“Correct. Now, step aside, if you will.”

Judging by the multiple “…” textboxes that followed that, everyone was reluctant to take orders from him, but they eventually made a path for him like he'd asked.

He stopped in front of the machine, his back turned to all of us.

“…Well?” Silver said. “Do you have anything of substance to say, or don't you?”

Cyrus stayed silent for a few seconds before answering.

“…For those of you, the new faces, who don’t know me… I couldn’t care less. But, the one thing you should know is that I was once a failure.”

“Oh, we know, for sure,” Barry said. By “we”, I knew he meant himself and I. “You wanted to destroy the universe and create a new one using DIALGA and PALKIA; you even went out of your way to round up an entire team of weirdos to try to accomplish that. But, ??? kicked both you AND your gang of cronies to the curb!”

Cyrus turned to us.

“Still as confident and insolent as ever, I see,” Cyrus said. “Not a surprise.”

“And you sure haven’t changed at all either. Now, spit it out; how did you manage to get here, in a place like this?”

“A simple question with a simple answer. You see, moments after you left your beloved partner after your victory over my commanders, I was abducted by the legendary GIRATINA — it sensed something awry, and it intervened. Your partner, alongside the former champion of Sinnoh, chased after me here, in the Distortion World, where ??? and I then engaged in battle. But, by some extraordinary fluke, she managed to defeat me, and ease GIRATINA’s wrath…”

“It wasn’t a fluke!” Barry said, “She’s stronger than you, stop denying it!”

“After I was defeated,” Cyrus said, paying no mind to what Barry said, “and as DIALGA and PALKIA escaped, I vowed to stay here… I wanted my new world, I wanted more than anything to be a deity, to rid the universe of heart and spirit, to rid the world of strife…”

“…And you never got that wish,” Brendan suddenly stepped in.

“You know, you've got quite an imagination,” Silver said, “but it’s about time you got it through your head that someone like you can't be a god of anything.”

“He’s right,” Gold said. “You’re a mortal human being, just like everyone else here, and a world without spirit is impossible, as it’s what makes us human. You have spirit too; the fact that you want a world without fighting and war proves it, I’d say.”

Red went, “…”

“Typical,” Cyrus said. “Children couldn’t possibly understand…”

“You are incorrect, Master Cyrus,” the old man said.

“Oh? Am I, now?”

“Only the Original One knows how long ago my youth was, but I find your ideas to be preposterous. I always have, even as I worked for the Sir and Madam. But I never thought you’d actually try to make them a reality.”

“Wait… What?” Silver said.

“You mean that he talked about this when he was with you all, too?” Brendan asked.

“That he did,” said the elder.

“Yeah…” the young girl said. “I remember hearing arguing in the kitchen about it when I was in the next room…”

The screen once again faded, and another flashback began. This time, it showed only the two parents and Cyrus in the same room.

“My good Sir, we shall be assisting you with no such thing!” said the father.

“Are… Are you rejecting my plans?” Cyrus said.

“You’re damned straight my wife and I are! That’s the most unspeakable thing we ever heard! ‘New world order’? ‘Deity’? It’s absolutely ludicrous!”

“I fear that I must agree!” said the mother. “Think of everyone else! If you did that, then what would become of everyone else, all the people and Pokémon, in it? Trying to handle beings as strong as DIALGA and PALKIA would surely get you and everyone else destroyed; their power is far beyond mortal control!”

“Don’t you realize?” said Cyrus. “I'm making an offer for you to join me, so you aren’t among those to be wiped out, but you choose to reject my generosity?”

“’Generosity’? What drivel… We are NOT doing it! And that’s FINAL! This exchange is over!”

The two left the room, leaving Cyrus alone.

The flashback ended.

“Oh, I most definitely remember, all too clearly,” Cyrus said. “The fools dared to not only turn me down, but to outright doubt me and my ideals as well. But unbeknownst to them, to anyone, my brain was far more than capable of facilitating a Plan B.”

He turned to face the machine.

“Out of the Distortion World’s terrain… I crafted this.”

There was a quick clicking sound, and the background music slowly faded away. In front of Cyrus, there was a bizarre array of lights, ranging from bright, eye-hurting reds to dull blues. Then, it slowly began to dissipate, revealing...

“!! It’s…!” Blue started.

“DARKRAI!” Barry finished.

They were correct; out of the light arose Darkrai, and behind it was an arrangement overworld sprites, those of other Pokémon; the ones that had been captured.

“Hey…” Blue said. “That’s my BLASTOISE!”

“!!! My SCEPTILE!” Brendan said.

“I command you to undo everything you’ve done!” the elder said. “Get ahold of yourself, Cyrus!”

“You? Commanding me?” said Darkrai, according to the text box — or at least, it seemed to be that way at first, but then I realized, Cyrus was clearly controlling Darkrai, so his words were coming out of Darkrai’s mouth.

“Don't make me laugh.”

Now, we were face-to-face with Cyrus, Darkrai, and a whole mob of possessed, likely incredibly powerful and unhinged Pokémon.

> _This is going to be rough… _
> 
> _But, we have to find a way to get through it. _
> 
> _Even if it seems impossible…_
> 
> _We have to win. _
> 
> _And if we really fight, really hope..._
> 
> _We will._


	22. A promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cyrus makes a callous confession, and the group is given one more thing to fight for.

“Can't you see?” Cyrus said. “With the world and the Pokémon in it under my wing, no adversary may defeat me. No trainer, no Champion, no Pokémon, not my own hopeless cohorts.”

My Dialga, along with the Palkia from earlier, were on either side of the incarcerated Darkrai. Cyrus walked a step away from the machine, and said, “Oh, how I wish your mother and father were present on this grand day, so I could hear them admit that I was right all along.”

I knew at once that he was speaking to the little girl.

She went, “…”

“Tell me,” Cyrus began, “was has become of them? Are they hiding away somewhere? Too scared of what they denounced?”

“Ummm, they’re…” She couldn’t finish. It was too painful for her to say, I supposed.

The old man stepped in for her.

“They,” he stated, “are both dead, Cyrus.”

An exclamation showed up above Cyrus’s head.

“What?” he said.

“Yes,” the elder continued. “Unfortunately, they passed away a long time ago.”

“And how did such a thing happen?”

This time, the young child spoke. “It happened only a few days after you left. But for some reason you never came back… Was it because you were upset…?” She shook a little, and continued, “Wait, that’s not the point. They both died at once, because they were sick…”

“Yes,” the elder said.

Cyrus stood still, not saying anything for a few seconds.

“… So, it actually worked,” he then said.

“Huh?” the young girl said.

“Child…Your parents… They’re dead, correct?”

“Hey, prick,” Blue said, “I’m pretty sure the kid understands that just fine; don’t rub it in her face like that!”

“Ha… Ha ha,” Cyrus went. “You naive, imprudent boy. You haven't got a single clue.”

Gold said, “WHAT clue?”

“Her mother and father’s deaths… I had a little to contribute to that. But only a little.”

The old man said, “You… What?”

“What… What do you mean?” the little girl asked.

Cyrus walked back up to his machine, and began talking with his back turned.

“You see, child, when the two declined my offer… It displeased me. Very much so. So much so that I felt that I had to teach them a lesson in respect.”

“A… A lesson?” the child said.

“I demand that you tell me what’s going through your mind, Cyrus,” the elder said, his contained anger evident even through only text. “This instant.”

“I demand it even more,” Silver said. “What the hell are you prattling about? ‘Lesson’? We can't read your mind, old man!”

“…You see,” Cyrus began, “after their little outburst…”

The screen faded again, and I knew I would be receiving a full image of what he was talking about. I looked at the screen in anticipation; I was curious as well.

It showed a scene that picked up from where the end of the previous flashback left off, with Cyrus alone in the room.

“…I expected as much,” he said. “The denizens of this current, defected world are all the same; all pathetic, all tainted by the disease that is sentiment and conscience, all beyond help… None of them worth saving.”

He walked over to two full dishes, just standing still in front of one of them.

"But, per usual, I came prepared. My new world shall have no need for them, not for anyone like them.”

He went from one dish to another, standing still for a bit in front of that one as well. Then, he left the plates, and went towards one of the room’s cabinets.

“The things that grant them mercy… They don’t deserve them.”

He walked over to the trash can sprite near the wall.

“No one who prioritizes their own insignificant emotions over the gift of ultimate power, deserves such a luxury. Mercy…”

He then went right back to the spot he was in, as if he never did anything.

> _What... What did he just do? _

The couple, along with their child and the old man, came into the room as Cyrus began to walk away.

“You’re leaving already?” the mother said. “Listen, we understand that we were much harsher than we should have been, and we sincerely apologize for that.”

The father said, “Please understand, we bear nothing against you, or your intentions of a better world, but…”

“Say no more,” Cyrus said, “I’m not angry. I have merely decided to take my leave for now, as I feel that I've created a toxic atmosphere, and I regret that. I promise, I will return very soon.”

“…As you wish, Cyrus,” the father said.

“It’s too bad you can’t stay for dinner…” the child said. “Well, bye-bye, Mr. Cyrus.”

“Goodbye, Sir,” the elder said.

With that, Cyrus left.

After a while, they crowded around the table to eat; the couple was sitting at the places were Cyrus had been. I guessed that they were eating; disregarding the incident and Cyrus, I’d assumed.

After the first few seconds, the mother said, “Darling, does this food taste a tad… bitter to you?”

“Yes, it does, actually,” the father said. “I thought it was just me… Do either of you taste anything odd?”

“No, daddy, mine is fine…” said the child.

“As with me, Master," said the elder, "I taste nothing different than usual…”

“Hmm…” said the mother. “I suppose we just put too much sauce on it, again.”

“Of course,” the father said, “That’s just like us, ha ha.”

It didn’t take long for the realization to strike, and when it did, it hit me in the gut like a speeding semi-truck.

With a faint sense of deep horror, the deepest horror I'd experienced all day, I processed Cyrus had far more than likely tainted the couple’s food. He was not only angry at the couple, but he was also bent on eradicating them, ridding them from his ideal world with no compassion or empathy. It was so obvious, and I cursed myself for not realizing it right off the bat.

I remember screaming at my DS, yelling, “STOP! DON’T EAT IT! IT’S POISONED!” To this day, I don’t know why I did that. It was only a game; they couldn’t hear me, they weren’t living things.

The screen went white, and black text appeared on the screen.

“Right… You left… And we ate… But, then…”

I assumed that the young girl was saying this, but I wasn’t completely sure.

The screen went black, and then white text appeared on the screen, with no visuals of the next scene.

“Doctor… What happened?” the white words said, within quotes. I presumed that the old man had said it.

“Sir… It’s poison. A poisoning unlike anything I or the nurses have ever seen,” said who I figured was the aforementioned doctor. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d guess that whatever poison’s in them must have been created to be horrendously potent.”

“P…poison…”

“Have you any antidote in the home, Sir? I’ve used the antidote I had with me already, but even that’s not enough, a first in my entire career. If we attempt to bring them to our hospital miles away, the remaining poison may dwindle for too long, and then…”

“Yes, thank goodness, the masters showed me where they were… It’s in … what? Empty? Nothing here?? But how…?”

“Sir…!”

Cyrus had not taken any chances in making sure the two ended up dead; he had hidden the antidotes from everyone’s view, probably dumping the contents into the trash so that it was unusable entirely. Not only that, but it was implied that Cyrus had created the poison himself, somehow made to be impenetrable by a common dose of antidotes.

I, yet again, screamed at the DS, “IN THE TRASH! LOOK THERE!” But, just as any rational person could predict, it was in vain, and besides, the antidote couldn’t be used anyway, even if they could hear me. I felt embarrassed, like a complete and utter idiot, even though no one was there to see or hear me.

> _Being so concerned for pixels on a DS screen, being so emotionally invested in a made-up modded story… _
> 
> _Cyrus’s world would have no place for me either, and I’d die by his hand too, as nothing but a victim of my own weakness. _

The screen went white again, and more black text showed up, the young girl speaking in the Distortion World again, I guessed.

“Wait… So that… So you…!”

The screen then faded into a scene of the young girl in a room all by herself.

“Sniff… Mommy… Daddy… Why? Why did you have to go away? Why did you have to leave me all alone?” she sobbed.

Not unlike Silver’s traumatized anger back in Purezza, even though it was just a game, I could almost feel the girl’s pain. To lose ones’ parents so suddenly, and so young — such a scenario had plagued every single one of my early childhood nightmares.

Just then, the old man slowly walked onscreen.

“My child…” he said. “You are not all alone.”

“Sniff…” the child turned around, “I’m not? But, Mommy and Daddy…”

“No. Not ever, young one. I will stay with you.”

“You… You will?”

“Yes, sweetheart. I will raise you as if you were my own, right here in this house. I will NEVER leave you alone.”

The girl was silent for a few seconds.

“Or,” the elder said, “if such a thing bothers or upsets you, I’ll be more than happy to contact your —”

“Promise?”

“Hm?”

“All that stuff you said about never leaving me alone… Is it the truth? Do you really mean it?”

“Yes, my child. I promise. May the mighty ARCEUS punish me if I dare to break that promise.”

“And you won’t leave me ever?”

“No, never. You are… my child now.”

“Mister… I… I...” She ran over to the old man. “Sniff… Wah…WAAAAH!”

“It’s alright, my poor girl, I understand perfectly. Just let all the pain out in my arms…I’m here to protect you.”

The flashback finally faded, and I was back in the Distortion World.

“So, do you all understand?” Cyrus said. “Or should I repeat myself, and maybe speak a little slower?”

Red went, “!!!!!!!!!!!!!” That was the most exclamation points I’d ever seen from him.

“S…So…” the young child said, “You mean…! That was….!!”

“You NO GOOD BASTARD!!!” Blue yelled. “How COULD you?! You SCUM!”

“I’ll be the first to admit,” Silver said. “I’ve never been the sweetest person in Johto; hell, I might just even be the most sour, but I would NEVER, and I mean NEVER do something as low as what you did! To think that I harbored so much hatred for DARKRAI... You are far, FAR worse, and FAR more deserving of punishment than DARKRAI could ever be!!”

“You…You’re a sick man… Just…” Gold said, at a loss for words.

Brendan said, “How can you live with yourself? How? Tell me, how!”

“Look,” Barry said. “it’s one thing to be angry when someone calls you off for your awful schemes — sure, be angry all you want to, I get angry a lot too — but to kill people for doing that? To kill the parents of a little KID? You’re not out of your mind, that’d be too good of an excuse… You… You’re just plain evil! You’ve gotta be st… Just gotta be stopped…”

The old man was speechless the whole time… In shock, no doubt. Then he spoke.

“You...You…” he said.

“Oh, is something the matter?” Cyrus asked.

“This… This child, already born sickly before the ordeal, suffered immensely because of her parent’s deaths, because of you… and you have the audacity to ask me such a thing? Have you no shame?”

The old man then took a step back.

“…No. Of course you don’t. Shame… Nothing more than another part of a flawed soul, merely the product of a failed human being in your eyes, am I incorrect?”

“I’m glad to see that, after all these years,” Cyrus said, “you still understand.”

He faced his machine.

“Now, the final question left is…”

He faced us once more.

“What will you all do now?”

The little girl spoke. “Everyone will beat you, that’s what! For… for what you did!”

“Hell yeah, we will!” Blue said.

"Right!” Silver said. “I may not be able to take down DARKRAI, but I can easily take this piece of human garbage out!”

“Yes! Let’s avenge the girl’s parents for her! It’s our duty now!” Brendan said.

“And while we’re at it,” Barry said, “let’s get DARKRAI and all the other Pokémon out of his clutches!”

“Yes! Let’s all do it NOW! No holding back!” said Gold.

“……” went Red.

“I scoff at your rage,” Cyrus said. “Fine. As you wish. Take me on. Me… and DARKRAI!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ngl this was so upsetting to write back in the day... heck


	23. Strife

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a long and painful journey, the final battle finally begins.

Cyrus turned to his machine, and I heard another clicking noise. The thing glowed even brighter, and it made a loud buzzing sound. Too loud. I could have sworn the DS was vibrating in my hands. The screen shook, and Darkrai floated in front of Cyrus.

“So, are you prepared,” he asked, “to meet the true face of darkness?”

“You’re damned straight we are!” Silver said, “Bring it on, old man!”

“Yeah!” Gold said. “We aren’t scared of you…”

“…Or the DARKRAI you’re hiding behind!” Brendan said. “If it weren’t for it, you’d be quaking in your boots, coward!”

“So, who’s gonna step up?” Blue asked.

“I say, ??? does it!” Barry said, facing me. “She beat Cyrus once, she can do it again!”

Blue asked me, “How ‘bout it? You ready?

>Yes

No”

I thought about what I would be facing, and that the lives and futures of the Pokémon world rested in this one decision.

> _I have to win this fight. _

Realizing my courage, I selected “Yes” without hesitation.

“Right answer!” Blue said. “That’s the spirit!”

“But you won’t fight all alone!” Gold said. “We’ll each take turns fighting alongside you!”

“I’ll step up to the plate first!” Blue said. “Let’s get at it!”

Cyrus said, “So rash and foolish, the lot of you — you couldn’t even dream of what power you’re up against!”

“We’re up for whatever you throw at us!” said Brendan.

“Children!”

Everyone turned to the elder.

“Be careful! I wish you the best of luck!” he said.

“Me too!” the little girl said. “Please beat him!”

“We will, promise!” Blue said.

We turned back to Cyrus and Darkrai.

“So, it’s settled,” Cyrus said. “Prepare…. for your END!”

The screen flashed, and I knew at once that the final battle was starting. The legendary Pokémon soundtrack that would have normally played when encountering Darkrai wasn’t playing, but Cyrus’s battle theme instead, completely unaltered. The screen showed both my and Blue’s back sprites, and Darkrai.

“Cyrus’s DARKRAI appeared!”

Darkrai was a level 90, and had a gleam in its eyes matching Dialgi’s. Its ghostly skin was also darker than it was supposed to be, just like the Pokémon it was forced to abduct.

“??? sent out FLAMEWING!”

“Blue sent out ARCANINE!”

“ARCANINE’s Intimidate cuts DARKRAI’s attack!”

I remembered his Arcanine — it was a level 82 now.

It was time for me to select a move, so I chose Flamethrower. The Arcanine was faster than Flamewing was, and got the first move.

“ARCANINE used ExtremeSpeed!” The attack didn’t do that much damage at all; the HP only lowered but less than a fourth.

“FLAMEWING used Flamethrower!”

Again, barely any damage at all. It was Darkrai’s turn.

“Cyrus’s DARKRAI used Nightmare! But it failed!”

This puzzled me. Wild Pokémon and trainers in _Pokémon_ (the only real exceptions being gym leaders, Champions, and trainers in Battle Facilities), due to their deliberately low AI, had a habit of having their Pokémon use moves that were unnecessary or useless, something I always appreciated, as it granted me more hits and less damage. I didn’t expect for such AI to be applied to a Pokémon possessed by Cyrus, especially considering the entire situation. I had nothing to complain about, though — I selected my next move, Submission this time.

“ARCANINE used Thunder Fang!”

A little bit more damage.

“FLAMEWING used Submission!”

This did a little bit more damage than usual, Darkrai being a pure Dark-type, and Submission was a Fighting-type move. Its HP was still more than half, however.

“All right, I’m done!” Blue said offscreen. “Who’s on deck?”

ARCANINE was withdrawn, and Silver’s backsprite appeared.

“I am!” he said. “Don’t you DARE screw this up, ???!”

“Silver sent out MAGNETON!”

The Magneton was a level 84 now. I chose the move Submission again, because it was the most powerful move against it so far. This time, Flamewing was the faster one, and went first. It did more damage than the last one.

“A critical hit!”

It was Silver’s turn.

“MAGNETON used Thunder Wave!”

This inflicted paralysis the Darkrai, but was still able to attack that turn.

“Cyrus’s DARKRAI used Night Shade!”

The attack hit me. It did a reasonable amount of damage, lowering about a third of Flamewing’s HP. It was Silver’s turn now.

“MAGNETON used Screech!” This sharply lowered the Darkrai’s defense; it’d start taking more damage.

“FLAMEWING used Submission!” Its HP was in the yellow zone now.

“DARKRAI is paralyzed! It can’t move!”

> _This is going easier than I thought it would..._
> 
> _Almost too much easier._

“Alright, that’s all I'll do!” Silver said, “Hurry up, one of you get out here!”

After Magneton was withdrawn, Brendan’s backsprite came in. “My turn!”

“Brendan sent out MACARGO!”

The Slugma from _Pokémon Emerald_ had evolved, and was at a level 79. I took the first move this time.

“FLAMEWING used Submission!”

I usually don’t spam the same move over and over again, but that time, I knew that it was the best choice, and I was going to use it until my HP was too low from recoil damage. Its HP lowered some more, then it was Macargo’s turn.

“MACARGO used Eruption!” Darkrai’s HP lowered to the red zone.

“Cyrus’s DARKRAI is weak! It's paralyzed, it can’t move!”

> _“Weak”? _
> 
> _That’s a new one. _
> 
> _Just like everything else in this damned hack._

I then made what I thought would be the finishing move.

“FLAMEWING used Submission!”

And it’s HP dropped to zero.

Darkrai gave a distorted cry, the kind of cry that a Pokémon makes when it’s about to faint…

But... it didn’t.

Instead, Cyrus’s sprite showed up next to Darkrai.

He said: “…You have much to learn.”


	24. Burned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Cyrus bends the rules, an old friend must step up.

He went back, and I heard the click of the machine, and the DS vibrated again. I watched in horror as Darkrai’s HP rose slowly back to full health.

> _Damn it._
> 
> _Damn it all. _

It was infuriating enough when Pokémon trainers in the regular games fully healed their Pokémon in the wake of a victory, but this instance instilled an entirely new kind of hatred and frustration.

> _So… Now what? _
> 
> _I go through the whole thing again? _
> 
> _Even then… What good will it do, if it can just be revived every time? _

Darkrai let out some kind of strangled cry, and its eyes grew even more red and menacing. Its level even grew from 90 to level 100, much to my dismay.

“Come on! That’s not fair at all!!” Brendan said offscreen. I agreed wholeheartedly, but I knew that Cyrus was going to do anything to achieve his goals, and there was no use calling him out on anything— it wasn’t like he’d repent. So we just continued with the fight, as there was nothing else we could do. I, again, chose the move Submission.

“FLAMEWING used Submission!”

To my shock, it did no damage whatsoever. Not even a little. It was Brendan’s turn.

“MARCARGO used Eruption!” Again, no damage.

“Cyrus’s DARKRAI used Night Shade!” The attack was aimed toward both of us, despite the fact that Night Shade was only supposed to hit one Pokémon. Both of us took a ton of damage. It was then that I realized that the machine did more than just restore Darkrai’s health fully — it also somehow broke the conventional Pokémon mechanics. The Darkrai would take no damage, and any attack would strike both Pokémon on the field. The game itself appeared to understand that as well, as the battle scene faded out, taking me back to the overworld.

“It’s no good!” Brendan said. “We can’t hack it!”

Silver said, “The bastard’s a cheater!”

“And a proud one,” Cyrus said. “You see, I, unlike the likes of you, am not sullied by heart. Not like you, not like the child before me that foiled my attempts at the Spear Pillar, not like that worthless pair I disposed of so long ago.”

“Shut your trap, you imbecile! You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Blue said, “Yeah, you’re not strong! You have nothing to be proud of; cheating is a sign of WEAKNESS, last time I checked!”

“Guys!” Barry intervened. “You’re completely right, but whether he considers it cheating or not; that doesn’t matter! What matters is how we’re supposed to beat this guy!”

“Don’t you see?” Cyrus said. “You cannot best me, not this time. All of your efforts are USELESS!”

“…So, that’s it then? We... lost?” Brendan said.

“No… No! That's... That's impossible!” Silver said.

“…That’s not true!”

Everyone turned to the little girl. 

"You can still beat him in some way!” She faced the elder. “Right?” she asked, “We can still win, right?”

The elder stayed silent, and then said, “That DARKRAI is invincible because of the machine crafted with GIRATINA’s power. We cannot break its barrier, I’m afraid.”

“B…But… We have to beat him… We just have to! He killed mommy and daddy, and he’s not sorry for it…”

“My dear girl…”

Throughout the entire conversation, I was paying attention to my Charizard, who had left the battle scene in front of Darkrai, and was looking at the machine. It silently flew upward offscreen, no one else noticing a thing.

“Face the facts,” Cyrus continued. “This time, I’ve won, you’ve failed. Now, you may all have the privilege of watching as I—”

He was cut off by an enormous burst of fire coming from above behind him. He quickly sprinted away from where he was.

“What…” he said.

“What’s going on? What's that?!” Blue asked.

“It’s fire, a whole lot of it too!” Barry said.

“And,” said Gold, “it’s hitting…!”

“MY MACHINE!” Cyrus shouted. “MY CREATION! WHAT'S RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS?!”

“Look!” The little girl said, hopping up and down. “Look up there!”

“Well, I’ll be…” the elder said.

Flamewing, who had struck the device with its Flamethrower, flew back down and landed next to me.

The device was glowing and shaking with heat. Cyrus ran over to the machine.

“It can’t be…” he said.

The device began to hiss, and then buzz, until it made a noise so loud, it amplified from the DS speakers around the entire room.

Cyrus ran from the machine at the last moment, and, at that moment… It exploded, turning the entire screen a crimson red.

When the screen cleared up, debris was scattered everywhere, Darkrai still floating in front of the spot where the machine had been. 

Cyrus ran over to the remains of his machine.

“This was made from the terrain of Distortion World itself... Nothing should have been able to destroy this!" he said, "How was an ordinary CHARIZARD able to do it?”

Barry walked a step toward Cyrus and said, “It belongs to ???, Cyrus — of course it could destroy your piece of scrap metal!”

After the destruction of the machine, I was almost positive that the Darkrai would come to its senses, turn against Cyrus, and proceed to attack him, and I would have to rescue him, as these types of plots tend to go.

But that didn’t happen.

Darkrai let out another cry, its eyes still having the same menacing glow.

“…So,” Cyrus said, “it appears that even with the destruction of my machine, DARKRAI is still under my direction. Very well.”

I understood; the Darkrai would not be out of Cyrus’s control until it was defeated.

“That may be so,” the elder said, “but you may no longer cheat!”

“That’s right!” Blue said. “Now the real thing begins!”

“Do what you will,” Cyrus said, stepping behind the Darkrai. “But, your efforts were in vain from the very beginning, and it will end in vain! REMEMBER THAT!”

“Alright!” Barry said. “The real fight begins, NOW!”

> _Yes..._
> 
> _The true final battle._


	25. Conscience

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the opponent begins to wage war on itself, the true final battle ensues, and the group entrusts the fate of the world in a single pair of hands.

The screen blinked, and the battle to reclaim the world of Pokémon continued on.

Darkrai was still at a level 100, and its HP was still full, but because the device was broken, we could fight fairly now.

Brendan was still by my side, and we both sent our Pokémon out once more.

“Go! FLAMEWING!”

“Brendan sent out MACARGO!”

All of our HP was full as well, so we were off to a fresh start.

It was my turn, but I chose Flamethrower, having exhausted the Submission move.

“FLAMEWING used Flamethrower!” Like the last time, it did little damage, but I was glad it did any damage at all.

“MACARGO used Eruption!” Little damage again. It was Darkrai’s turn.

“Cyrus’s DARKRAI used Night Shade!” The attack was aimed toward Macargo (and only Macargo, this time), and though it didn’t do as much damage as last time, it still did quite a bit of damage.

“OK, my turn’s up!” Brendan said. “Next!”

Barry came onscreen. “Yeah, I’m up! We’re gonna win again, ???! I just know it!”

Just then, I noticed something; everyone was going up in a special order. They were all my rivals, going up in the order that the generations went in; first, it was Blue from Kanto, then Silver from Johto, then Brendan from Hoenn, and now it was Barry from Sinnoh.

> _I have to say, whoever hacked this game did a clever job with this arrangement… _
> 
> _… _
> 
> _… _
> 
> _… _
> 
> _…Hacked? _
> 
> _No._

“Barry sent out SNORLAX!”

For once in my life, I was actually glad to see that Snorlax, now at a level 79. When I battled Barry at the Battle Frontier in Platinum, that Snorlax had been a massive pain to defeat because of its monster base HP, and I knew that it would be no different here. Of course, the Pokémon being noted for its sluggishness, I got to go first.

“FLAMEWING used Flamethrower!”

“FLAMEWING’s attack missed!”

> _Crap… _

It was Darkrai’s turn. “Cyrus’s DARKRAI used Dark Pulse!” This one was aimed at Flamewing, and it did a fair amount of damage.

But, as it attacked, I had a strange feeling — like there was an actual pulse emitting from the actual DS.

> _My imagination…? _
> 
> _No. _
> 
> _It’s time to stop lying to myself. _
> 
> _This is all real._
> 
> _ Completely real. From the beginning._

It was finally Snorlax’s turn.

“SNORLAX used Body Slam!” As the attack hit, the entire DS vibrated with the supposed force of the attack.

> _Yes, this is all real._
> 
> _And far, far more than just a hack. _
> 
> _Part of me always knew._
> 
> _This isn't a human creation; not of a normal human._

The attack did a tad more damage than usual: “A critical hit!”

It still had a lot of health left, but I didn’t care; I knew right off the bat that the final fight wasn't going to be easy. It was my turn again — I chose Strength this time.

“FLAMEWING used Strength!” The DS quivered again, and Darkrai took a little more damage.

“Cyrus’s DARKRAI used Night Shade!” I felt a sensation again; a dark rush flowing through my body. But it only lasted for a split second, because:

“It has no effect on SNORLAX…”

Of course, because Snorlax was a Normal-type, and Night Shade was a Ghost-type move. Again, I found it odd that Darkrai was using a move with no effect.

“SNORLAX used Earthquake!”

I swear I could feel the room shaking a bit as Snorlax attacked, though admittedly, that one may have been an illusion induced by adrenaline. Maybe all of it was.

Darkrai took a little more damage… before letting out a familiar strangled cry. 

> _Oh no… _
> 
> _Please no… _

I became terrified that it would restore health again, or do something else that would haunt my nightmares for life.

But instead of doing either, it spoke.

“You… Everyone… Help me…”

Cyrus’s sprite appeared next to Darkrai. “Is… Is my power slipping?” he said. “Not now! I refuse it!”

The Darkrai was in pain. It had been under the forceful, borderline violent control of an outside force for too long, and it was too much for the nightmare Pokémon to abide.

It was locked in a nightmare cast by a human; a nightmare cast not in self-defense, but in malice, in selfishness.

I knew there was only one solution to free the Darkrai; defeat.

“Gaaaaaaaaah…”

The Darkrai emitted a strained cry, before saying, “Did I not tell all of you from the beginning? NO ONE can best me anymore, not even this Pokémon, my permanent host. Accept it!”

I knew in an instant that this was Cyrus talking through Darkrai’s mouth again; the font of the words was a blood-red, matching the eyes of the controlled Pokémon. It sent chills down my spine, the coldest chill I'd felt that day.

I knew I had to defeat Cyrus; not only for the Pokémon, but for the world.

> _And for Darkrai. _

Barry said, “Oh, you think? In your dreams! We’ll mop the floor with you! All of us!” He then withdrew his Snorlax.

That was it for the rivals — next, Gold joined me. He wasn't a rival per se, but he was still a companion; a part of who I was.

“Alright, I’m up! It’s nearly down!” he said.

“Gold sent out AZUMARILL!”

I could see that his Marill had evolved, and was at a level 67. It was faster than my Charizard, so it got to go first.

“AZUMARILL used WHIRLPOOL!”

“Cyrus’s DARKRAI was trapped by the vortex!” Darkrai released another painful cry, that one being immensely distorted.

It said, the font moving slowly, “Y…e…s… more P…A…I…N… I am nearly done…”

It was my turn.

“FLAMEWING used Flamethrower!”

“Cyrus’s DARKRAI was burned!”

“M…o…r…e…” I waited for Darkrai to launch an attack, but instead, the sprite shivered.

“Cyrus’s DARKRAI refuses to attack!” the screen said.

_But…why? _

_...No need to ask. It’s obvious. _

It didn’t attack because it was getting its mind back, much to Cyrus’s dismay. In fact, it was then that I realized why the Darkrai had used attacks that had no effect previously — it had subtly, though surely, been coming back to its true self, using those moves on purpose. 

"WHAT?” Cyrus said, his sprite appearing next to Darkrai. “Attack! NOW!!”

Darkrai said, “Ack, gah…”

“Cyrus’s DARKRAI used Nightmare!”

“But it failed!”

Cyrus said, “NO, not that, you useless cretin! I demand you to use NIGHT SHADE! Right this instant!!”

“………”

“Cyrus’s DARKRAI used Night Shade!”

Yet again, I felt a rush of darkness going through my head. The attack was aimed at Flamewing, and did a moderate amount of damage.

“I… I’m sorry…” Darkrai said.

“… Sorrow?” Cyrus said. “…So, even after all it’s done, DARKRAI is no more deserving of living in my world than these children and their ilk. And you dare wear the title of a Legendary Pokémon... You were absolutely nothing until I came along.”

Darkrai said; “N…No…”

Gold, staying off-screen, said, “Don't you DARE pin this on DARKRAI! IT didn’t hurt all those Pokémon and people, IT didn’t tear this universe apart, YOU did!”

Gold was absolutely right. Darkrai, assaulted by Cyrus’s physical and verbal abuse, was being forced to attack us against its will, and was forced to do everything that we’d witnessed it do, just as we had all suspected. I felt sorry for it — it was given such a bad reputation because of the Team Galactic leader’s overpowering selfishness. Darkrai was without a doubt grateful that we were attacking it, and that it would lose health every turn because of Whirlpool, and its burn…

> _Hang in there, Darkrai, just a little longer. _
> 
> _I’m going to win. I'm going to free you._
> 
> _No matter what it takes. _

“AZUMARILL used Surf!”

Darkrai was down to the yellow zone now, but it was just a single HP from the green zone.

“FLAMEWING used Submission!” “

Cyrus’s DARKRAI was forced to use Night Shade!”

Cyrus’s level of aggression and cruelty even became evident in the battle text. The attack hit Azumarill, and did mild damage.

“…Pain…” Darkrai said.

“Cyrus’s DARKRAI is hurt by WHIRLPOOL!”

“Cyrus’s DARKRAI is hurt by its burn!”

“…Paaaaaaain…”

Then, I noticed that its HP rose slightly.

“…It hurts…”

Cyrus appeared next to Darkrai, and said; “If you cannot fend for yourself, then the power of my creation shall do it for you!”

“…It hurts…Make it end…”

Its HP was still in the yellow zone. I was nearly done with the fight, but Cyrus was hellbent on ensuring Darkrai’s victory, so he was even forcing HP on it somehow, something I couldn’t understand, as the machine had been terminated. I could only assume that the power of Cyrus’s machine somehow lingered in Darkrai’s body, even after being destroyed.

The Azumarill was withdrawn.

“OK, last one up!” Gold said.

The next partner, and the final trainer who would battle by my side, was Red, the first fictional character I'd ever felt a connection with.

“……”

“Red sent out VENUSAUR!”

The Venusaur was a level 99, matching Flamewing’s level.

“FLAMEWING used Submission!”

“It’s super effective!”

The Darkrai was in the red zone for a second, but was at the yellow zone soon, as Cyrus forced more HP on it.

“…Stop… the pain…”

“VENUSAUR used Vine Whip!” It did little damage at first, but it lowered quickly all of a sudden.

“I’m… It’s done…”

Cyrus said, “Trying to take yourself out, are you? How pitiful.”

Darkrai’s HP rose a little more than usual this time; this was a bad sign.

“Gaah…”

“Cyrus’s DARKRAI was forced to use Ominous Wind!”

Of course, this affected both Red’s and I’s Pokémon, and it lowered our HP by about a third. I was in the yellow zone now, though not too far in it, while Red was still in the green zone.

Darkrai uttered slowly; “…None…”

It was my turn again; I used Submission one last time, as using it again would have probably resulted in my Charizard fainting from recoil damage.

“FLAMEWING used Submission!”

“It’s super effective!”

Darkrai was in the red zone again… But the health rose.

“VENUSAUR used Vine Whip!”

Back to the red zone.

“Foe DARKRAI was forced to use…“ the text stopped.

"…You refuse?” Cyrus said.

“…No… No more…”

“You're continuing to defy me?”

“NO MORE!!”

Venusaur was returned, Red going; “...”

Red then left, and I was left alone, with no one else joining my side.

Suddenly, everyone spoke to me.

Blue said, “OK, you’re the only one left!!”

Silver said, “Don’t just stand there!! Throw the last punch!!”

Brendan said, “You’re almost done! Stay strong and don’t give up!”

Barry said, “You beat him once, you can do it again!!! I believe in you!!”

Gold said, “Yes! The final blow is yours!”

And, of course, Red simply went, “…!”

Even though none of this was real, I somehow felt the strongest that I'd ever felt throughout my playthrough, in my life, and probably ever will.

Flamewing slid to the middle of the field, and released a louder cry than usual.

> _A battle cry. _

“Yes!! Finish this!!” Darkrai said.

“No!” Cyrus said. “Not this time… Not again!”

Flamewing’s sprite gave the vague semblance of a scowl, which was a pleasure to see… Flamewing meant business, and so did I.

It was my turn to attack.

> _The last turn. _

“FLAMEWING used Flamethrower!”

> _Charizard’s signature move._

I held my breath as Darkrai’s HP slowly went down…

And, finally…

It went down to zero.

And this time....

It stayed at zero.

“…Thank you…” Darkrai said.

And the screen faded to white.


	26. A thank you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the battle, and the inevitable farewell.

The screen remained blank for a moment, until a text box came up.

“FLAMEWING gained 8000 EXP!”

“FLAMEWING grew to level 100!”

After all these years, I finally did it. I raised my Charizard up to level 100. I would have never, not in a million years, known that I’d be granted the opportunity one last time.

The screen then faded back to the Distortion World.

“It… It can’t be…” Cyrus said.

Silver said, “You’d better believe it, weakling.”

“But how… How could a bunch of children ever hope to defeat me?”

The old man walked a single step forward and said, “They all have pure and determined hearts, Cyrus. They were aided by their emotions and spirit, the very things you deem a weakness. They did not think of giving up, so they defeated you. Accept it.”

The young child walked up next to the elder and said, “Yeah, you lost, you big bully!"

Cyrus stayed silent for a few seconds, and then said, “…Again… Once again, to a child, the same child… What now?”

Barry said, “I think you can just stay here where you belong!”

Gold said after Barry, “Face it. You’re DONE. You’ve lost everything, and you were always going to.”

Darkrai, still in the scene, said, “I'm free…”

It faced turned to face Cyrus.

“From your control… Now I shall free the captives!”

There was a dark but somehow somehow eye-hurting light around the area emitting from Darkrai. Then, one by one, the overworld Pokémon returned to their normal color palettes, all of the reds and blacks that weren’t already designed to be there fading away. I could hear their pixilated cries, possibly made out of confusion, possibly made out of relief, and they all floated in separate ways, some floating in our direction.

“Hey, there’s my TORTERRA!” Barry said.

“And my TYPHOSION!” said Gold.

Red went “!” and I assumed that he saw his Pikachu, and his Charizard.

Sure enough, my partners’ Pokémon were returning to them, one by one.

> _But… _
> 
> _Where’s my Dialga? _

“Grr…” Cyrus said. “Such deplorable things, the lot of you…”

“Silence, fool,” Silver said. “You lost. You have nothing more to say.”

“He’s right…” Barry said, before going, “Hey, what’s that…?

! Hey, Silver, look!”

“!!!” went Silver. “There’s my MEGANIUM…! No, wait… Two of them?!”

Indeed, two Meganium approached us from the top of the screen — one went toward Silver, and the other toward…

> _Me? _

The Meganium stood right in front of me for about a second, and then a text box appeared.

“The MEGANIUM grabbed the Diary from ???’s Bag!”

Then, it ran away.

“What was that about…? Who’s was that?” Brendan asked.

“They have returned to their masters, their trainers, their caretakers…”

We all turned to Darkrai, who’d spoken. I was surprised it could still speak, but then I assumed that it must have been doing so via telepathy.

“…And the masters are happy. I am as well…”

The Darkrai began to float upward.

“…What have I done…”

The elder said, “DARKRAI… Please realize that this is no fault of yours.”

“I… I must return to New Moon Island… Alone, as I should be. For the people I trapped are free, and have returned home as well…”

“Wait!” the young girl said. “Will you be OK?”

“Yes…” Darkrai replied. “I will… Be fine…”

And with that, the Darkrai began to slowly fade away, until it was completely gone.

“Bah, no matter,” Cyrus said. “The thing was of no use anyway… Just another tainted soul.”

“Give it a rest already…” Gold said.

“So… Now what?” Silver said. “We got our Pokémon back, so we all finally leave this awful place now, right?”

“I mean, naturally,” said Blue. “But how? The way we came in closed up behind us…”

Cyrus walked a step towards us. “……You don’t,” he said.

We all turned to him.

“You're really still talking?” said Silver. "What are you going on about this time?"

“You don’t escape from here. ‘Tis a one-way path, I fear.”

“In your dreams!” Brendan said.

“…” the elder went.

“We CAN get out of here, can we, old-timer? Right?” asked Blue.

“… I don’t…”

“Exactly, the old fossil understands,” said Cyrus, “You'll spend the rest of your lives here, as will I.”

“…So is it true?” Gold said. “We’re just trapped here?”

"Oh no…” the little girl said.

“…………………” went Red.

“Don't be so somber,” Cyrus continued. “You have the euphoria of your little victory to comfort you in the days to come, don’t you?”

Just then, a glow appeared on the screen, along with a text box from an offscreen presence.

“I have not forgotten…”

Barry said, “Who… Who’s that?”

Silver said, “Show yourself!”

“We have acquainted already… I am of the deity of dark dreams…”

I knew right away who was talking… Darkrai.

“I shall ensure your escape from the torn universe… As my thank you.”

“What…!” Cyrus said.

Then, the screen flashed a couple of times before turning completely white.

The screen still white, I heard my Charizard’s cry, and another text box appeared.

“Goodbye, my friend…

FLAMEWING has returned to Purezza.”

Of course…

Flamewing had helped me to save the Pokémon and the world, and it had to leave. I understood that, but that didn't make it any less painful.

> _…Goodbye, Flamewing, _
> 
> _i'm so grateful to have seen you again._


	27. The pathways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Parting ways.

An image soon faded in; of a city of some kind. It was a small, sandy city, along a coast of an ocean…

Cianwood City from Johto, with its HGSS graphics.

The screen zoomed in on one particular home before cutting to the inside of it. It was an average house, nothing special about it — standard table, oven, and so on. Two people were in it — a woman, and a young man.

“Mother…” a text box said, belonging to the young man.

“…I… I’m fine, I promise,” said the mother.

“…No, mother… You long for Petunia…As do I.”

“I’m so sorry; I should be grateful that we have returned to Cianwood, alive…”

“Please don’t apologize, mother…”

Just then, something appeared in the doorway; it was a Meganium. or should I say instead, Petunia.

“Mother…!!”

“It can’t be…!”

The Pokemon let out a pixilated cry, and ran over to its family.

“PETUNIA! SHE'S RETURNED! SHE'S ALIVE!”

“REJOICE!”

“…Oh, what is it that you have?”

“It's… My journal… Someone must have found it and heard our plea. I’m so glad.”

So, that was the duo I had feared back in Purezza. This time, I felt no fear, not even a little — I felt nothing but contentment, seeing them reunited with the Pokémon they’d shed so many tears over.

The screen faded out again, and more, similar scenes were showcased, including one set in Snowpoint City. All of the houses were thawed out, the temple was in its rightful place (whatever force that made it vanish apparently gone), and its people had returned, right where they’d always been. The screen became focused on the woman at the entrance of the temple.

“…It’s over,” she said. “It’s all over. I’m so happy.”

The screen faded out one last time, and this time, it faded into the image of a square-shaped island that I didn't recognize, and my group settling on it. The island looked pretty basic — it had the normal green grass texture, even some regular flower sprites bobbing in the corner of it, and was of moderate size. I didn't recognize this place to be from any of the games — a completely new place, I guessed, just like Purezza.

“So,” said Silver, being the first one to speak, “where are we THIS time?”

“No idea…” said Gold.

“It looks like an… island, or something? I dunno…” Blue said.

“…” went Red.

“If you ask me,” Barry replied, “I don't really care where we all are, I just want to go home.”

“Naturally, children, and so do I,” the elder said. “And you soon shall, via this island.”

Brendan asked, “So I take it that you've been here before?”

“Yeah, he has!” the young girl said. “I have too! We play here sometimes!”

“Yes,” the old man. “This, my children, is a sacred island called Rinvio.”

“Rinvio?” Silver repeated.

“Yes. You see, you were taken to an alternate dimension, and the normal opening had closed, meaning that it was impossible to escape without a complex solution.”

The elderly man turned away from us, looking out into the open sea.

“DARKRAI knew this. So, it helped us in return for saving it from Cyrus's tyranny over it…”

An exclamation point showed up above Barry's head.

“CYRUS!” he said. “Where'd he go?”

The old man turned back around to us, and said, “I'm afraid I cannot answer. Maybe he is still in the torn world right where he’d been left, maybe he managed to escape himself… Either way, I hope for his safety.”

“What? After everything that he did? But…Why?” asked Barry.

“There’s no question that he has committed abhorrent crimes,” the elder answered. “But, perhaps one day, he will be able to understand the importance of compassion, be able to feel remorse for his actions, and repent of them. Whenever he does take his final breath… I want it to be without hatred in his heart.”

“…Yeah,” the young girl said. “Me too.”

“But… It is best that we do not dwell on it.”

Right at that moment, at the four corners of the square-shaped aisle, four thin bridges of varied colors appeared. One was red, another gold, another an emerald-green color, and another was a clear, almost transparent hue, like a diamond.

“The roads have opened…”

The elder walked a step towards all of us.

“Children… It is finally time for you all to go home.”

“You mean we gotta separate now?” Blue asked.

“Aw man,” said Barry. “I actually liked being in a group.”

Gold responded, “Yeah, me too, especially with people from so many different places.”

“Same,” Brendan said. “I learned a lot from you all.”

“…” Red went.

Silver said, “…Ugh, whatever. I got my Pokémon back, so I’m fine with leaving.”

Gold turned to his rival. “…Whatever you say, Silver,” he said.

“Well, I guess I'll head out first,” Blue said. “I’m goin’ back to Kanto, probably gonna go see gramps and my sis in Pallet after all this. Red, you're coming too, and you should go see your mom!”

He turned around, and I heard the cry of an out-of-sight Blastoise.

“You hear that, buddy? We're going home!”

The Blastoise made a noise again.

Before he disappeared down the red road, he turned to us one last time.

“Hey, guys, thanks a bunch for the help!” he said.

“You are far more then welcome, boy,” the old man said. “And thank you, as well.”

“So, with that... Smell ya later!”

> _His old catchphrase. _
> 
> _Part of me had been anticipating it all this time. _

With that, he turned around and walked away.

“…” Red went, turning to us.

“It's OK, you don't have to talk if you don’t wanna!” the young girl said. “Thank you for sticking with us! I'm really glad you got your PIKACHU and CHARIZARD back!”

“…” Red turned around, walked on the road, then looked at us one more time before walking away right behind Blue, the red road vanishing when he had walked offscreen.

“Alright, so I guess we'll head out next, Silver,” Gold said.

Silver walked to the golden road first. “With pleasure,” he said. “Time to get back to Johto and wipe out some punks with my MEGANIUM partner!” I heard Meganium’s ingame cry after that, likely made in agreement.

Gold walked a step towards Silver. “Hold on,” he said. “Don't you have anything to say to these people?”

“……Hmph, don't die on your way back, I guess. Let's go, MEGANIUM!” Silver said, his Meganium letting out another cry. Silver then disappeared into the golden path.

Gold headed for the road as well. “Heh, that's just his way of saying 'thank you',” he said. “I'm sure you've figured out how he is by now. I’m glad he’s back to his old self again, though… I can tell he’s not scared anymore. I'll be heading back to Johto, too.”

“Alright,” Brendan said. “You look after yourself, now!”

“No worries! Goodbye, and thank you!” Gold said as he followed Silver.

The golden road then vanished.

“Now, I'll go. Thank you for everything, guys! Take care of yourselves and your Pokémon, alright?” Brendan said.

“No prob, bud! And will do, you do too!” Barry said. Brendan didn't say much — after his thanks, he walked away too, the emerald road fading away.

“And so,” Barry said, “I guess we go now?”

“Yes,” the elder said. “We’ll join you.”

The elder faced me. “Do not fret, child… Check your party.”

> _That’s right… _
> 
> _I’d been wondering about my Dialga. _

My Pokémon team opened up on its own, and my Dialga was in the last slot, still at a level 61, and at its normal coloration.

Everything was as it should have been.

I closed the party menu.

“With that,” the elder said, “let us take our leave.” He went down the road first, the young girl following him.

“Yeah! Let's follow them, ???!” Barry said, and dashed off.

I walked on the clear diamond-like road, wondering what could lie ahead as the road vanished.


	28. Togetherness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The calm after the storm, and some reminiscing on the boat ride home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just An FYI This Is Like 95% Conversations

As I took step after step on the disappearing road, there was nothing but the sound of the rushing waves from the ocean bordering it. It felt a bit odd; I was alone for the first time a while, yet I wasn't anxious this time. The screen was dim; it was still dark out in the game, and I had no idea what time it was in the game either, considering the Pokétch was unavailable and had been throughout the entire game. As I went on, I heard Pokémon cries, but they were natural and normal… A fact that gave me comfort.

Suddenly, as I kept walking forward, the diamond road still vanishing behind me, it began to rain, in the regular Generation IV fashion. It rained softly and silently, blending in with the rushing of the waves.

> _Am... I near my destination? _

I passed by a few objects on the way ahead, including a lone honey tree on a tiny island, a small ship floating on the left side of the bordering sea, and a couple of Starly sprites flying overhead, exactly how they flew in the pre-title screen Generation IV sequence. Eventually it stopped raining, but immediately after, it started to snow. It wasn’t a heavy blizzard though; more of a gentle flurry. The bordering sea's animation froze, as if all weather had changed in a split second. The snow changed to diamond dust, similar to the easter egg event in Snowpoint City, and then the weather went back to normal.

“There she is!”

The road came to an end, and I found Barry, who was accompanied by the old man and the little girl.

“Slooooow! It sure took ya long enough!” Barry said. “Wasn’t that road weird? It was so quiet, and the weather kept changing…”

“Yeah, it does that!” the young girl said. “It’s like a mixture of everything that makes Sinnoh what it is, you know, with all the snow and stuff! Like, a mix of everything from the same... dimension, yeah!”

Barry took a few steps away from us.

“Great,” he said. “More of this ‘dimension’ shiz…”

“Don’t worry, boy, we are nearly in our own, so try to keep yourself contained. Alright?”

Barry turned to the three of us, and said, “Sorry…”

“No need, I understand,” the elder said. “You, and the others, have been through much in such a short time, and you have every right to be on edge. I’m actually surprised that you are as content as you are now.”

“Yeah, well…” Barry said. “How about you?”

“Hm?”

“You. Are you OK? You’ve been through a lot too, like us, and please don’t take offense to this, but I figured you’d be in worse shape because of… Well… Old age…”

“Hoho, yes, true,” the elder said. “I am quite fine. I thank you for your concern, child.”

Barry then asked, “And how about you?”

The young girl said, “Who, me?”

“Yeah. I felt really bad for you after I heard what Cyrus did to your mom and dad, and I still do…”

The child hopped a little, and said, “Don’t worry, I’m OK!”

Barry turned back around and said, “Great everyone’s fine. Let’s keep going.”

Then he walked ahead on his own.

“That young boy; quite the impatient one,” The elder said. “Let us follow him.”

We all did, together.

“Hey guys, check this out!” Barry said.

“What is it? Did you find something?” said the elder.

“It’s some kinda giant boat…”

The entire isle soon came to a stop, and there was nothing but an interdimensional blue sea, a large, pure white boat amidst it.

“Well, I’ll be…” the old man said.

“So, are we going to ride on it? Can we?” the young girl asked, obviously excited.

“Hahaha, yes my child,” he answered. “This shall be our way of returning to Sinnoh.”

“Yay!”

Barry said, “Well, let’s go in!” He dashed in first.

> _That childhood friend of Dawn’s… _

We followed him onto the boat, and it floated off, making a strangely familiar honking noise.

“Wow, check out the inside!” Barry said.

As soon as I saw the interior of the ship, my breathing momentarily stopped. I saw one main hallway from the door, with white walls and brown doors…

I was inside the S.S Anne, the boat from Generation I that I was sure that, like Flamewing, I would never see again.

In the past, I had visited Vermilion City every year to see if it ever came back after floating off, but due to the Generation I games’ lack of even an internal clock or a calendar, it never did, it never could.

> _ Now, I’m riding it again. _

“This boat's so empty… Where is everyone?” Barry asked.

The old man said, “Let us find a room.”

Then, he entered the room closest to us, followed by the little girl, Barry, and then myself.

The room was clean and well-kept, room, with one bed, one table, and one chair. The elder sat on the chair, while the little girl stayed standing on the mat on the floor, and Barry sat on the bed.

“Finally, a bed…” Barry said. “I thought I’d never see one of these again.”

“Ah yes, Feel free to rest,” the elder said.

“So, mister, tell us about this ship!” the little child said.

“You see,” he began, ”the ship we're aboard now… It's known as the S.S Anne. It is a very old — and very famous — cruise ship born in Kanto. It would circle the Pokémon world continuously, stopping at every region once every year.”

“Really?” Barry asked. “I didn’t see it in Sinnoh at all…”

“You are correct,” the elder continued, “In the year 1996, the boat made its last cruise. It had been traveling for 80 whole years. It was made by a once-young man who was fascinated by boats since his toddler ages; he was a friend of mine, and he'd always talk to me about them. The Pokémon world hadn't had any large water vehicles, and this was an enormous breakthrough. He drove his boat with pride around the world, becoming an icon, and an inspiration to other regions, resulting in the construction of the S.S Spiral in Sinnoh, the S.S Aqua in Johto, and the S.S Cactus and S.S Tidal in Hoenn, but the Cactus was abandoned because of a shipwreck, sadly…”

“Ah, cool... But the ship stopped going because it was so old, huh?” Barry asked.

“Well… Not exactly. When this ship pulled away from Vermilion in 1996, it turned out to be the ending point of many adventures for trainers. So, at a port stop, everyone left. And the ship remained empty for many years, it still swimming on the briny blue, exposing its greatness though it was empty. They both grew old together… And soon, its time, along with the captain’s, ended.“

“…So, is he here?” Barry asked.

“…No, I don’t detect any other presence here. He likely sensed my presence and sent his boat in the wake of our plight, but he isn't here himself... Likely because he wasn't prepared for our sudden appearance.”

“…Oh… Right.”

“The poor man, he was dedicated; though he always got seasick, he always pulled through… Once we reach our destination, I’m sure the boat will return to him, once again forever drifting in the sea that he loved so much.”

“Ya know,” said Barry, “it kinda makes me sad inside, him loving this ship so much that he died in it…”

“Yes, it pains my heart too…”

“Same here…” the little girl said.

It hurt me as well.

> _So, that’s the reason why the S.S Anne wouldn’t come back?_

Everyone stayed quiet until Barry spoke.

“Sir, I want to ask you and the kid something.”

“Oh?” the elder said.

“What is it?” the girl asked.

“Since you took the kid in… How's life?”

“Well,” the young girl said. “Like I said a long time ago, I was sad for a long time, I couldn’t help it… But I didn’t understand why. He said he’d take care of me, so that should have made me feel better…”

The elder said, “No. It is hazardous for a child to be taken from her parents at such a young age, especially one born with an illness like yourself. One so young needs a parent, a guardian, be it of blood or otherwise…”

Then, the screen faded into white, and I realized I was headed into a flashback. It had been a while.

This one showed what seemed to be the little girl and the elder sitting next to each other in front of a television.

“Awww, none of my favorite shows are on today…” the girl said.

“Well…” said the old man. “Would you like to do something else?”

“Hmmm… Oh! I forgot to tell you! I drew something for you today!”

“Oh? May I see it?”

“Here! It’s a picture of a tree!”

“Hoho, oh my, there’s a lot of purple things in this little drawing isn’t there?”

“Yeah! There’s a purple tree on purple grass with a purple sky! But that’s only because all the other crayons were used up…”

“Ha ha, I see!” went the old man. “So, do you like it?”

“…No…”

“Oh... I’m sorry…”

“I LOVE it, my dear. I shall cherish it forever.”

The little girl hopped. “Yay, heehee!”

The screen turned white for a split second, and then showed the two in another small room.

“I shall place it right here.”

“Yay! It looks nice right there…”

Just then, something popped up next to the old man; it was the overworld sprite of a Gengar. It let out a cry, and faced the picture.

“Hohoho… My GENGAR seems to take a liking to your drawing!” the elder said. The Gengar hopped up and down, and gave a pleased cry.

“Tee hee,” the young girl said, “I’m glad you like it, GENGAR!”

The screen faded away again, and then it showed the two in a hallway of some sort, standing in front of a familiar statue.

“Hey, mister, what Pokémon is this?”

“Hmmm… I believe it’s a CHARIZARD.”

“CHARIZARD?”

“Yes. It’s a Pokémon native to the Kanto region.”

“Oh! Did Mommy and Daddy like CHARIZARD?”

“I suppose so… They both used to own one in their younger years as Pokémon Trainers, based on what I’ve heard from them.”

“…Mister?”

“Hm?”

“I still miss them a lot. I still feel sad. I’m sorry.”

“It's perfectly fine. I understand, and I already knew.”

"You did?”

“Yes; you have been more sickly than usual lately since it happened and I know that its because of your grief…”

“Yeah, I guess I have felt kind of sicker lately…”

Then, the screen faded into white again, and the next scene showed the little girl in a bed, with the old man standing beside her.

“My child…”

“Mister, I’m sorry, I can’t…”

“...I…”

“…Sir?”

“Wha... What is it?”

“Even if I go away, you’ll still stay with me, right?”

“Of course. Always.”

“I’m so happy… Thank you so much for… staying… with…”

“Oh, my… my poor child…”

The screen turned white again, and the flashback ended.

“…So then what happened?” Barry asked. “When did she wake up?”

“Not for a while…” said the elder.

“But I did soon!” the young girl finished.

Just then, I heard the honking again.

“Woah, are we here?” asked Barry.

“I believe so!” replied the old man.

“Let’s go see!” said the young child.

We all left the boat. Upon exiting, we appeared to be in some sort of tiny forest, with trees bordering, and a small lake taking over almost all of the area.

The S.S Anne was gone, but I could soon hear a distant ‘toot’.

> _Goodbye, S.S Anne. _
> 
> _it was nice seeing you again, too._


	29. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some farewells, and then some hellos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> note: see bottom notes for translations.

“I know this place!” Barry said. “This is Lake Verity! So, that means…We must be home!!”

“Wow, so this is Lake Verity?” the young girl said, running to the edge of the lake. “It’s so pretty!”

“Just like I remember it…” the elder said.

“That means that Twinleaf Town is right next to us!!! We can go home!!! Finally!!!!” Barry said, circling around me repeatedly.

“I'm so happy for you all,” the elder said to us.

“Me too! Me too!” the girl said.

“I hope the others got home safe…” Barry said.

“Do not worry,” said the elder. “I am for certain they got home safely as well.”

“Hey, ???!!,” Barry faced me. “We can go rest now, then we can go back to training and getting stronger!”

He turned to the elder.

“Thanks for sticking with us, you two!”

“We were pleased to,” the elder said.

“Yep!” the girl said, “Thank you for the adventure, and for beating Cyrus!”

“No prob, kid! You stay sharp and stay strong!”

“OK! I will!”

The two turned to leave.

“Wait!” Barry said.

The two turned back around at us.

“Is there something wrong?” the old man asked.

“’You two still got a place to stay? Where are you going to go?”

The two were silent for a while.

Then they both said, at once:

“Back home, to the Chateau.”

“WHAT?” Barry said, “The Old Chateau?! But it’s all run down and…”

Barry was made silent as they two turned around, and began to slowly fade away right in front of our eyes.

“Farewell, you two,” said the elder.

“We’ll always remember you, forever and ever!” said the young child.

And then, in seconds, they vanished completely.

“No way…” Barry turned to me. “Those two were… ghosts?”

> _…It all makes sense now._
> 
> _I can't believe I didn't realize it sooner._

The two said they were going back to the Old Chateau, where their home had always been. They weren’t just any old man and little girl — It was the male and female NPCs from the Old Chateau. It was them I’d seen with during the beginning of the game, the young girl having been subtly referencing Darkrai’s tyranny when she talked about a “monster” getting her in the dark, and upon my exit, they had followed behind me without my knowledge, to assist me and the others in the fight against Cyrus.

> _Everything adds up. _

The mansion in the flashbacks was the Old Chateau before it became the old and decrepit nightmare it currently was. The TV the two were watching — it was the same TV that Rotom would hide in. The picture that the little girl drew, that appeared to be purple scenery… It was the same one with the glowing red eyes on it, and the room that it was in was the only place that you could catch a wild Gengar, depending on what GBA game you currently had in the bottom DS slot.

> _It must have been the elder’s Gengar, who liked the picture..._

In addition, in the other two Generation IV games, if you looked in one of the trash cans, you could find an Antidote, likely the only one that was mildly salvageable amidst the other ones that Cyrus had thrown away. The little girl, who was apparently born with a possible terminal condition, died even quicker in her grief and trauma. The old man refused to leave her, so he stayed with her until he died himself, not even burying her, probably never even leaving the home to buy food, and until they finally reunited. They stayed in the Chateau, even as it was running down and rotting, not a soul touching it. It was their home, and they weren’t leaving. The elder had kept his promise to the young girl.

> _And he always will. _
> 
> _Forever and ever. _
> 
> _I know that. _

“Brr, creepy… But, you know what... We’re home, and that’s all that matters!” Barry said. “And heh, I guess I can’t be too scared of ghosts who did nothing but help us, so I hope they have a safe trip back! Let’s go home ourselves now, I’ll meet you there! I’ll fine you if you’re slow!”

Barry, clearly back to his old, eccentric, outrageous-fine-giving self, ran towards Twinleaf. I exited Lake Verity, going offscreen without transitioning to the next screen.

Then, the screen faded to black.

After a few seconds, another image began to come into view, and familiar music began to fade in with it — the Eterna Forest soundtrack, unchanged and as serene and calm as ever. It appeared to be another cutscene, this time situated in the Eterna Forest, screen panned on the fence located right in front of the Old Chateau. Slowly, two sprites faded into view in front of the fence; the sprites of the elderly man and the little girl, both of them facing towards the currently offscreen mansion.

“Yay, we’re home now! Finally…” the girl said. A second after she spoke, an exclamation point appeared over her head.

The man turned to face the girl, asking her, “What is it? Is there something wrong?”

She hopped once before saying, “Mister, look…!!”

The old man looked towards the direction that she was facing, and an exclamation point bubble appeared above his head as well.

“Could… Could it be …!”

The game began to slowly scroll upward until the entrance of the Old Chateau came into view, but in front of it were two sprites, each of a man and a woman, respectively. In an instant, I knew who they were, and my mouth fell open.

“Mommy!!” the little girl said offscreen, “Daddy!! It’s them, it’s really them!!”

“!!” the father went.

“Our precious, precious angel,” the mother said, “we’ve been waiting for you. It’s been so long…”

The old man and the little girl appeared onscreen, the child rushing up to her mother and father.

“Mommy, Daddy!!!!” she said, “Sniff… I’ve missed you so much!!”

“Dear sweet child, your mother and I are so, so happy to see you…” said the father. “We’ve seen everything you’ve been through… Traveling with those people and confronting DARKRAI… Confronting and defeating the man who ripped us away from you.”

“Knowing that he and his atrocious plans have been foiled, that the true nature of your loss is known, that we have been avenged… We finally found peace, we could finally come home, as seeing our family home is no longer painful,”

The mother then said, “We’re so sorry we left you all alone, in all of your poor, innocent youth…”

“Oh, but, I wasn’t all alone, though!” the girl said, before facing the old man’s direction. “He stayed with me and took care of me, just like he promised!”

“Yes…” said the mother. “We could see him. We could hear him.”

“We thank you,” said the father, “with all of our heart and soul, for keeping her safe, for staying here.”

“’Tis my sworn duty, Sir, Madam,” the elder man said. “Welcome back. It’s so wonderful to see you again.”

“Now,” the mother said, turning towards the entrance, “we can finally be a family again.”

With that, she entered the mansion, having the same floating style of movement as the elderly man and young child.

“Yes,” the father said, following after his wife, also floating. “Praise be.”

“I’m… I’m so happy…” the little girl said, “We’re all together again, and this time, we’ll be together forever and ever, and no one will ever take that way ever again!”

“Yes,” the man said. “You’re exactly right, my dear girl.”

“Let’s both go in, mister! I’m gonna take a nap for a while because I’m super sleepy, but when I wake up, we’ll all play together, and I’m not sick anymore, so it’ll be even more fun!” she said before turning towards the mansion’s entrance. “Hey, mama, papa, wait for us!”

She floated into the home as well.

The only person left onscreen was the old man. He began to float into the house as well, but then stopped just as he was a step away from entering. He turned towards the screen, facing me — the me who was holding the DS, who’d just played the game.

“Be well,” he said.

“Hey, mister, come on in!” the little girl said from the mansion.

Without another word, he floated inside after everyone else, and everything grew silent. Then, at the bottom of the screen, still panned on the Old Chateau, a textbox said: “Grazie per il vostro aiuto… Siete un salvatore… Arrivederci, possiamo ci incontriamo ancora…”

The screen faded to black one final time, and then said; “Risparmio… Don' la t spegne il potere.” It did this for a few more seconds, and then the screen said: “Il gioco ha risparmiato.”

Then, the screen began to slowly fade away...

And then the game turned itself off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Grazie per il vostro aiuto… Siete un salvatore… Arrivederci, possiamo ci incontriamo ancora…": "Thank you for your help... You are a savior... Goodbye, and may we meet again..."
> 
> "Risparmio… Don' la t spegne il potere.": "Saving, don't turn off the power."
> 
> "Il gioco ha risparmiato": "The game has been saved"
> 
> This Thing Is Almost Done Just One More Chapter I Promise


	30. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath.

I sat in place, motionless and speechless for a while, my DS screen reflecting a blank stare, an empty but yet powerful feeling in my gut. I'd been so invested in the game, I'd just then remembered that I was in the real world, at home, in my room.

> _What… What just happened? _
> 
> _Had all that been real? _

I turned my DS back on, seeing what would happen. The screen stayed black, white text appearing on the screen:

“You have finished your task. Please rest now.”

The game turned itself off again. I understood; this wasn’t a game you could just play over again. I defeated Cyrus, and saved the world in the game, so I was done. I closed my DS and took out the cartridge, looking at it one more time. I saw it differently this time, however; I wasn’t scared of it anymore, not at all. I looked at the box; that piercing red eye had vanished, as did the Pokémon logo, leaving it completely blank. But I wasn’t afraid — in fact, an overwhelming sense of relief surged across my entire body, as if I was finally rid of a demonic ghoul that had been plaguing my home for years. I got up from my bed and placed the cartridge back in the box, then retrieved the two instruction booklets from the table. I wasn’t afraid of the Italian anymore, and I even internally laughed at myself for being scared of it in the first place — it was just a normal language, and was spoken, maybe even written, by a spirit far more than benevolent. I put them all back together…

Then, right at that moment, my phone rang.

The number it showed was: 333-469-9022. The exact same number from the Club Nintendo booklet.

Part of me very much wished to answer, as I had a newfound sense of bravery and the knowledge than nothing about my purchase bore me ill will, but my skittish side took over, and I didn’t touch the phone. But, the phone wouldn’t stop ringing, even after two full minutes of not picking it up.

So, after mustering enough courage, I finally answered.

“He… Hello?”

No one said anything for a moment, but then, I was met with two voices; one of an elderly man, and one of a young girl.

“Thank you…”

“… Grazie.”

Then, dial tone.

I just stood there, holding the phone, not saying nor doing anything for a good while. But my heart beat steadily, and my breathing remained calm — I felt no anxiety, no terror.

> _…You’re welcome, both of you._

When I hung up the phone, I decided to head outside, the box in my hand.

The weather was clear, and the neighbors were outside, the dogs were barking, and people were talking and laughing with each other. Everything was back as it was.

Except for one thing.

I was headed for the GameStop where I got this game from — something in my gut told me to go there. When I got there, I almost dropped the box in complete shock — the entire shop was gone. There was just an empty space in the area, and no one seemed to notice, just strolling around and on and past it like a regular field.

Realization hit.

The game was no hack, no bootleg, not even close to anything so normal and simple — the entire scenario had been the elderly man’s call for help. The elder, able to travel between dimensions in his dead form, came to my dimension, the “real world”, to signal for help in his own dimension, the “Pokémon world”. He wrote the messages on the booklets, he projected that one Mart in Purezza into the real world (building and all, with the label “Gamestop” attached to attract potential _Pokémon_ players, and with the illusion of the shop becoming normal again to keep me from alerting anyone and potentially ruining everything), he projected everything happening there into a real-world _Diamond_ cartridge, all knowing that someone from the real world would find it and play it, and I’d been that someone. Additionally, he had more than likely inserted my_ Diamond_ team, as well as Flamewing and other Pokémon I’ve had before, into the game to make me feel safer, to comfort me.

With that knowledge in mind, I returned home box in hand, held tightly against my chest. I was drained and tired, and a little bit shaken, but satisfied, and planning to sleep the rest of the day away.

To this day, the game is stored in my closet, right next to my old Gameboy and _Pokémon Red_ game, and I plan to never dispose of it, even if I can't play it anymore. I haven’t forgotten that game, and I never will.

But as a final note…

If I ever again come across a ransacked GameStop, and I am encouraged to take the only game there… I won't be afraid, I won't ask questions.

I'll just do it.

> _Because now..._
> 
> _I’ll know that I'll be someone's hero._
> 
> _Just as I'd always wanted to be._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand Finally This POS Is Posted Completely God It Was So Tedious Posting It In Chapters Here 
> 
> If you read through the whole thing, please know that I love you and appreciate it a whole lot, and my 13-year-old self does too. If you enjoyed it, drop a kudos if you can! Again, apologies for any mistakes or plot holes that may or may not be in it; Its 107 Pages And I Can Only Sit And Revise So Much 
> 
> With that, Have a good night ❤️


End file.
